For those firmly inhabiting the camp of wanting Pete Alonso back with the New York Mets, perhaps no news is good news.
Pitchers and catchers report for spring training in just over a week and Alonso remains unsigned with very little known prospects to spark an otherwise dormant market.
As it stands, it feels like the Mets or no one — a notion that was only cemented by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who chimed that it is “almost inevitable” that Alonso signs a deal to put him back in Queens.
No insider status needed: This is just simple optics.
The Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels, and San Francisco Giants had all been loosely linked to the 30-year-old first baseman, but have provided no real evidence that they were making an aggressive push for him.
It all boils down to Alonso and his agent, Scott Boras, misplaying his free agency this winter. After he turned down a seven-year, $158 million extension offer during the summer of 2023, Alonso fired his previous agent and brought in Boras, who only fueled the illusions of him resetting the first-basemen market with a long-term deal eclipsing the $200 million mark.
But Alonso had his worst full, non-COVID season as a pro, supporting 34 home runs with career lows in OPS (.788) and RBI (88).
The dip in production provides obvious pause for a player who will experience the natural regression that comes on the other side of 30, hence why the long-term offers never rolled in.
As the staring contest continued, Alonso reportedly told the Mets that he would be willing to sign a three-year deal with opt-outs with only them. President of baseball operations David Stearns responded by sending a three-year proposal with an opt-out after the first year and worth roughly $70 million.
Alonso declined, and the stalemate continued as no other club, notably the Blue Jays, has stepped up to offer anything that would coax the Polar Bear to leave the franchise that drafted him and which he spent the last six seasons with.
Stearns and the Mets appear to still be immovable on their financial stance regarding Alonso. They are dangerously close to exceeding the final threshold on the competitive balance tax as it is and signing him in any capacity would put them over. Granted, it could be seen as a necessary penalty to take to bolster the middle of the lineup behind Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Mark Vientos because as it stands, New York lacks he punch necessary at the clean-up spot.
If Stearns and owner Steve Cohen are willing to amend their offer, which would pay Alonso more in his first year of the deal before a potential opt-out, it would likely do the trick. That would allow the right-handed slugger to have another season in which he bets on himself to increase his value for another potential foray into the open market next winter.
It would also bring him back to the franchise he clearly wants to be with, break the team home-run record, and put the Mets’ pursuit of a World Series officially on track.
