The New York Mets have some crucial decisions to make in the coming months regarding their franchise cornerstone, who is set to become a free agent following the season.
This homegrown star is first baseman Pete Alonso, who rival executives and scouts believe the Mets could not only deal to a contender at the trade deadline in late-July, but also let go of in free agency this upcoming winter.
As these specific rivals told Sports Illustrated through a number of conversations, the Mets could move on from Alonso due to a myriad of reasons including the fact that power hitters do not project to age well over the course of a long-term contract, and overall concerns regarding his recent pitch selection and quality of at-bats.
That being said, making a decision on Alonso's future heavily ties into the Mets' overall plan moving forward. Obviously re-signing Alonso to a long-term deal would benefit the franchise in the future, as he consistently hits over 40 home runs a season and has driven in 100+ RBIs in three out of four full 162-game campaigns if you exclude the 2020 shortened Covid season that consisted of 60 regular season games. In 2021, Alonso drove in 94 runs, which was still impressive. But the Mets likely need to surround Alonso with more big name pieces in the lineup, as the current structure has not worked from an offensive standpoint. They do have money coming off the books after the 2024 season, so they will have the power to spend again, as opposed to last offseason.
With the Mets floundering this year, sitting at 10 games under .500 on June 4, it is a realistic possibility that Alonso will be traded later this summer. He has been linked to the Milwaukee Brewers since last year when then GM Billy Eppler had discussions with the Brewers' front office that were not believed to have gone far. However, Alonso's power bat would make a this year's NL Central Division leading Milwaukee team even stronger.
One source brought up the San Diego Padres as a fit for Alonso as well. This is because the Padres need more power after acquiring two-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins earlier in the season. Padres head baseball man A.J. Preller has a reputation for being aggressive via the Arraez deal, star pitcher Dylan Cease, and two years ago when he landed superstar Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals in a blockbuster trade.
While the hesitance from an outside perspective about signing Alonso to a long-term deal could be seen as fair, his agent, the highly esteemed Scott Boras, offered a thoroughly detailed rebuttal to Sports Illustrated about the outside opinions from the baseball industry surrounding his client.
"Every competitive team has a power hitter who can hit 40 home runs," Boras told Sports Illustrated in reference to Alonso's skillset. "(Alonso) is not a DH. He is a valued first baseman. He is 29. (He is) just stepping into his prime.
"There are no power hitters available (on the upcoming market), who have hit 40+ home runs in three different seasons. Execs are always trying to dump markets."
In regard to the rival executives and scouts concerns over Alonso's plate discipline, Boras disagrees with this sentiment as well.
“If the Execs and scouts are concerned about the strikeouts, that’s not Pete Alonso," Boras said. "(Alonso produces) 37+ homers with five times below the average strikeout rate, which doesn’t happen often. You’d have to go back to the era of Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Vlad Guerrero Sr.”
There have certainly been fair points shared from all sides about Alonso's long-term status. With the Mets looking like non-contenders, trading Alonso on an expiring contract makes sense for team owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns when looking towards the organization's future given the prospects they would net in return.
As far as whether the Mets should re-sign Alonso or not, time will tell as he is not having a typical All-Star level season so far, but he has a strong track record and there are still four months of a regular season left to play.
Alonso and the Mets discussed a possible contract extension during the 2023 season, they were closer on money as opposed to years, as multiple sources told Sports Illustrated back in September. And as The New York Posts' Joel Sherman reported, an offer was made at seven-years, $158 million prior to last year's trade deadline, but the Mets and Alonso never came close to an agreement. Alonso has since changed representation to Boras Corporation. As long as he gets back on track at the plate, he should be setup for a handsome payday in the offseason. Whether it comes from the Mets or another club remains to be seen.
