Pete Alonso & Mets Need to End Standoff NOW
Spring Training is just days away and Pete Alonso (at the time of writing) remains unsigned.
The former Mets first baseman took a huge swing on free agency, betting on himself that the market would turn out a multi-year deal that would make him one of the highest-paid players at the position. And, in the end, Alonso struck out.
His agent Scott Boras also struck out.
What we know up to this point is the Mets had offered Alonso two contracts. First, a seven-year $150 million deal, which Alonso rejected back in 2023; then a three-year, $70 million deal that Alonso and his camp rejected just a few weeks ago.
The Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, and suddenly, the Cincinnati Reds have all been linked as possible suitors throughout this off-season, but not one of them has broken through to sign the first baseman.
The market just isn’t there.
Christian Walker signed a three-year, $60 million deal with Houston; Carlos Santana signed a one-year deal to return to Cleveland; Paul Goldschmidt signed a one-year deal to join the Yankees; Josh Bell inked a one-year deal in Washington.
First basemen just aren’t flying off the board, and they aren’t making boatloads of cash either.
What hurts Alonso are two things: his age (30), and the fact that his numbers have been on a precipitous dive the past three seasons. Many are now calling Alonso a one-dimensional – power-only slugger, even though he does own a .992 fielding percentage at first.
While Alonso’s power numbers have been consistently good; he hit 34 home runs in 2024, a year after crushing 46 homers in 2023, it’s the other stats that are worrisome.
Alonso had a slash line of .271/.352/.518 back in 2022, the year he drove in a career-best 131 RBI, and had a career-high 162 hits.
Since then, Alonso hit only .217 in 2023, and .240 in 2024. His production has tilted downwards, with only 88 RBI in 162 games played last season. The strikeouts have skyrocketed from 128 in 2022 to 172 last season.
Yet when it mattered the most in the postseason last fall, Alonso was on his game. He crushed the series-clinching home run against Milwaukee that sent the Mets to the NLDS and smacked a three-run bomb in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Dodgers that forced that series back to L.A. for Game 6.
Overall he hit .273 with four homers and 10 RBI in the playoffs. His BB:K ratio wasn’t bad either at 12 to 15 in the playoffs.
The question at this late stage is who is going to blink first? Alonso and Boras? The Mets? Someone else?
Let’s be honest, Alonso needs the Mets as much as the Mets need him. Sure the Mets, led by President of Baseball Ops David Stearns, can pontificate about the prospects of Brett Baty and Mark Vientos on the corners. And, yes, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuna are up-and-comers to watch this year.
None of them provide what Alonso brings: a presence both in the lineup and in the clubhouse.
Maybe, Vientos who slugged 27 homers last year at third base for the Mets, and is expected to replace Alonso this year, turns out to be exactly what the Mets need. Maybe he crushes 40 homers and drives in 110 this year; all to the good if he does.
But without Alonso in the lineup, something is missing for the Mets. Their lineup looks smaller and thinner. On paper, there would be more pressure on Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto atop the lineup to deliver on a nightly basis.
And wasn’t the whole point of splurging $765 million on Juan Soto to put him in a lineup with a guy like Alonso protecting him?
It’s time to end this stalemate.
Owner Steve Cohen told fans a couple of weeks ago that he is tired of the negotiation, and sounded irked by Alonso, and his agent Scott Borsas for dragging things out.
Since that time, rumors have flown around that the two sides still might get back together.
Here’s a solution: just do it. Get back together.
If the Mets have any vision of contending with a team that on paper looks lesser than last year’s squad, they need Alonso. And if Alonso has any visions of getting his career back on track and building his legacy, he needs the Mets.
Do it!
