QUEENS, NY — New York Mets owner Steve Cohen disclosed that his team is “still engaged” in contract talks with free-agent slugger Pete Alonso, thus keeping the door open for a potential reunion.
“We hope that he stays,” Cohen said shortly after Juan Soto’s introductory press conference at Citi Field on Thursday.
Alonso’s agent, Scott Boras, who also represents Soto and was in attendance on Thursday, said a day earlier that Alonso was also speaking with other teams as he tests out the open market. With Soto off the board, the 30-year-old first baseman is one of, if not the premier offensive free agent currently available.
“He just needs some time to go out and test his market and see what it is,” Cohen said. “Hopefully we’ll get there.”
Both Cohen and Stearns have maintained that bringing back Alonso is still very much on the table even after spending $765 million on Soto, whose $51 million AAV puts the Mets past MLB’s competitive balance tax. Alonso and Boras were originally looking to reset the first-baseman market with a contract as high as $200 million. Hence, they turned down the Mets’ seven-year, $158 million contract extension offer last summer.
With 226 home runs in his first six seasons, Alonso is just 26 round-trippers away from tying the Mets’ franchise record, which is held by Darryl Strawberry. Only Aaron Judge of the Yankees has hit more home runs since Alonso’s MLB debut in 2019.
Not only would re-signing Alonso allow the Mets to secure a home-grown product who developed into a star for his entire career, met the entirety of his potential, and remained healthy, but it would also make the top half of New York’s lineup all the more imposing.
Manager Carlos Mendoza will now get to write Francisco Lindor and Soto’s names at the top of his starting nine every day with Mark Vientos, coming off a breakout 27-home-run season, batting third. Potentially slotting Alonso back into the No. 4 spot makes the offense a relentless force.
