New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns likes to keep his cards close to the vest and when it comes to Pete Alonso’ future in Queens, that’s no exception.
But even amidst a portion of his availability on Monday from Spring Training in Port St. Lucie, FL where he implored that he wouldn’t “get into specifics,” or “provide you guys updates on any conversations,” he did admit that contract talks most likely will not heat up until next offseason.
“I think that’s probably the most likely outcome,” Stearns said. “When you have a really talented player who is really good who is entering his final year of club control, who happens to be represented by Scott Boras, these things generally end up into free agency. We understand that.”
Coming off a 46-home-run campaign in 2023, Alonso hired Boras to represent him just days after the regular season in anticipation of this year, which is his final season under team control before hitting free agency.
Boras, the most high-profile agent in Major League Baseball, more often than not guides his clients to test the open market. That usually maximizes the payday for the ballplayer and client alike.
While Stearns has taken over as president of baseball operations, he’s exuded an almost laid-back approach to Alonso’s future, including an appearance on the Foul Territory Podcast last week in which he supplicated that all parties simply focus on the 2024 season.
Such a stance could come from the fact that he’s being backed by the richest owner in Major League Baseball. Should Alonso put up another monstrous power-hitting season and remain atop his throne as the most prolific home-run hitter in the game since his debut in 2019, Steve Cohen won’t be outbid next winter.
“This is an organization that has dealt with that before with really good players and it’s ended up in a perfectly fine spot,” Stearns began. “What we’re going to talk about is, ‘Look, let’s go and have a great year together.’ If you go out and have a great year, let’s have a great year as a team, and if we do that, we’ll both be set up… very well going into the offseason.”
