Despite the months-long stalemate, ceaseless speculation, and the posturing to the media, the New York Mets and Pete Alonso still have a chance to reconcile and get a franchise all-timer’s career back on track.
Alonso’s market is all but non-existent outside of the Mets, at least from an outside perception. Less than a week remains until spring training, and the 30-year-old, for now, appears to have no other option but to return to the team that drafted him seven years ago.
He can ultimately take the reported offer that president of baseball operations David Stearns put on the table last month: Three years, roughly $70 million, and an opt-out. He could also try, with the assistance of his seemingly unhelpful agent, Scott Boras, to squeeze a few more dollars out of the bottomless pockets of team owner Steve Cohen.
As this ordeal has dragged out through the winter months, it has become clearer how much the two parties need each other.
Yes, the Mets need Alonso as much as Alonso needs the Mets right now.
The slugging first baseman needs a home for 2025 and a contract that would potentially allow him to bet on himself and hit the market again next winter. What the Mets offered was fair market value for a power-hitter at his position, but a few extra million to bump his average annual value from $23 million to, say, $25 million or $26 million could be the olive branch that gets the deal done. It would make Alonso one of the highest-paid first basemen in all of baseball, which would help soothe any bruised egos — from the player himself or his “super agent.”
The Mets need his bat to bolster the middle of their lineup, which is an obvious fact when presented to the naked eye. The top of their lineup is as good as any in baseball, with last year’s NL and AL MVP runners-up, Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, batting Nos. 1 and 2. Mark Vientos is coming off a breakout 27-home-run year and should inhabit the No. 3 spot.
Behind him, though, things drop off significantly. Brandon Nimmo and Jesse Winker are not traditional power hitters for a clean-up role, and it would be a big ask to expect young catcher Francisco Alvarez to take the role on his own after hitting just 11 round-trippers last year.
Alonso’s return quickly lengthens the lineup, which, again, has been obviously and astutely observed by anyone keeping tabs on the Mets within a 3,000-mile radius (or more) — fans and “insiders” alike.
Speaking of those fans, though, there is also a sentimental, almost nostalgic factor in all this, and it would only fuel their respect for the current front office.
The Mets have never had a homegrown star who came up through their system and spent the entirety of a healthy career in blue and orange.
Tom Seaver was traded to the Reds and had stops with the White Sox and Red Sox, too. Darryl Strawberry signed with the Dodgers, and Dwight Gooden was not asked back after he was suspended for the 1995 season. He re-surfaced with the Yankees in 1996.
Jerry Koosman was traded to the Twins, Edgardo Alfonzo was allowed to walk in free agency to the Giants, and Jose Reyes fled to Miami when he hit the open market following the winning of a batting title. Jon Matlack was traded to the Rangers, the same team that Jacob deGrom spurned the Mets for 45 years later.
David Wright’s Hall-of-Fame career was derailed by spinal stenosis — a cruel fate that has been met with the continued dignity and grace that only the franchise’s former captain could approach it with. He and Ed Kranepool (a franchise icon who cannot be considered a star, with zero disrespect intended) are as the closest thing, and it is something Wright had hoped Alonso would consider.
“It’s a different feeling when you’re drafted, developed, and playing for the team that drafted you,” Wright said last month while discussing his upcoming jersey-number retirement. “There’s more pride when you wear that jersey every night. I hope he doesn’t lose sight of that.”
In just six professional seasons, Alonso has developed into one of the greatest power hitters in Mets history. A few more years will see him crush nearly every notable slugging record if he is afforded them.
He is already the only Met with multiple 40-home-run seasons and holds the single-season franchise record with 53, which is also an MLB rookie record. He also holds the club record with 131 RBI in 2022. With 226 career home runs, he is just 26 away from tying Darryl Strawberry’s all-time franchise mark. With a few more years in Queens, he would also likely set new team records in RBI, total bases, and extra-base hits.
The first step in ensuring that happens, though, is to get these “exhausting” negotiations, as Cohen called it, over the finish line.
