The Mets and Pete Alonso have been in a staredown for some time however it appears the membership is blinking. Andy Martino of SNY reviews that they now anticipate him to signal elsewhere, with Thursday’s agreement with Jesse Winker a part of a plan to unfold cash round to varied options. Earlier right now, Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Alonso’s market was heating up, with the Blue Jays and Mets concerned, in addition to a 3rd unidentified staff.
Alonso and the Mets have clearly had mutual curiosity in reaching a brand new deal for a very long time, however with out the power to agree on a value level. The membership reportedly supplied him a seven-year, $158M extension in the summertime of 2023, however a deal didn’t get achieved. Since then, there have been adjustments on each side of the negotiations. The Mets employed David Stearns to exchange Billy Eppler atop their baseball operations division in September 2023, with Alonso then hiring Scott Boras the next month.
In the course of the 2024 season, the edges typically expressed admiration for one another however by no means appeared to make a lot effort to get an extension achieved. Alonso turned down a qualifying provide and have become a free agent. Though he was related to varied groups in latest months, he by no means appeared to get a deal to his liking. Alonso’s camp reportedly pivoted to a short-term deal, pitching the Mets a three-year pact with opt-outs. The Mets gave the impression to be considerably amenable to this framework however a spot on the cash nonetheless prevented a deal from coming collectively.
In latest weeks, the Mets have additionally been related to gamers like Winker, Anthony Santander, Alex Verdugo, Tanner Scott, Luis Arráez and Tim Hill. In addition they reportedly supplied Teoscar Hernández a two-year deal earlier than he returned to the Dodgers on a three-year pact.
Martino’s report compares the Mets’ present plans to these of the Yankees after lacking out on Juan Soto, spreading cash round to varied gamers versus one massive splash. After Soto went to the Mets, the Yankees gave out offers to Max Fried and Paul Goldschmidt, in addition to buying and selling for Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger. They might have achieved a few of these strikes together with Soto however maybe have been extra aggressive in these areas since they hadn’t tied up their assets with the one mega deal.
The Winker signing alone doesn’t cease the Mets from bringing again Alonso, as the 2 coexisted on the roster in 2024, with Alonso the common at first as Winker hung out within the outfield corners and designated hitter slot. However there was some reporting that the membership needs to make use of some inside choices on the corners. Mark Vientos was the common third baseman final yr and had a breakout yr on the plate, however with subpar defensive metrics. He might maybe transfer over to first, whereas the Mets use Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuna to cowl third base.
Maybe issues will change within the coming days, however it now appears potential that the Mets are certainly ready to stroll away from Alonso. The sooner reporting from The Athletic indicated the Mets have been in talks with varied gamers and didn’t need the stalled Alonso negotiations to get of their means. Whereas Winker doesn’t strictly block the trail for Alonso to come back again to Queens, it does appear to sign that the Mets are ready to maneuver on.
If it does certainly come to cross, it is going to be a surprisingly lackluster finish to the Mets-Alonso relationship. He was a homegrown star with some New York roots and are available up by the membership’s system after being chosen within the second spherical of the 2016 draft. He debuted with an enormous splash in 2019, hitting 53 house runs and in addition profitable the house run derby. That marketing campaign is now broadly seen because the juiced ball season, however Alonso continued to be an enormous homer risk in subsequent years.
Alonso now has 226 house runs over the previous six seasons, second solely to Aaron Choose in that point. He gained one other derby title in 2021 and was a staple of the membership over their latest historical past, not having performed lower than 152 video games in any full season.
Throughout that point, the Mets went from a punchline to a powerhouse. Whereas they have been beforehand recognized for having middling budgets and outcomes, Steve Cohen bought the membership forward of the 2021 season and made them one of many prime spenders within the league. They’ve made the playoffs in two of the previous three years, with Alonso enjoying the hero final yr. He hit 4 house runs in 13 playoff video games just some months in the past, together with the series-flipping homer off Williams to get the Mets previous the Brewers and out of the wild-card spherical.
However his star energy within the media and normal public appeared to outpace his recognition in right now’s analytically inclined entrance workplaces. Whereas the house run energy has been actual, Alonso’s different contributions have been muted. His stroll charges have been first rate however not excellent, he’s not a burner on the basepaths and his protection hasn’t been effectively regarded. His general offense has additionally declined. Whereas he hit .261/.349/.535 for a 137 wRC+ by 2022, he slashed simply .229/.324/.480 for a 121 wRC+. FanGraphs thought-about him to be price 2.1 wins above substitute final yr, a stable however not elite quantity. There have been 119 place gamers who have been at 2.2 fWAR or larger final yr.
It due to this fact appeared potential from the beginning of the offseason that Alonso would discover his gives missing in free company. As a part of MLBTR’s annual Top 50 record, we thought-about predicting Alonso for a deal alongside the traces of the three years and $80M that Bellinger obtained from the Cubs final yr after he lingered in free company into February. We backed down from that prediction, placing 5/$125M on Alonso, however it now seems he might effectively find yourself getting one thing like that deal. It simply is likely to be someplace apart from Queens.
It’s a little bit of a shocking pivot, because the Mets haven’t been shy about spending since Cohen purchased the staff. Whereas Stearns was in Milwaukee, he by no means spent some huge cash on first basemen, however he by no means had the assets he now has. Regardless of the deeper checking account, it nonetheless appears as if Stearns would favor to put money into methods he considers sensible. The membership additionally didn’t play on the prime of the beginning pitching market, not signing guys like Fried or Corbin Burnes, as an alternative taking dangers on guys like Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes. Montas is coming off a down yr whereas Holmes might be making an attempt to pivot from the bullpen to the rotation.
All this can seemingly depart Alonso wanting elsewhere for his subsequent gig, with Toronto one chance. The Jays have already got a primary baseman in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. however it doesn’t seem as if the plan could be to commerce him. Per the reporting from The Athletic, the plan could be for Guerrero and Alonso to share first base and DH, with Guerrero sometimes crossing the diamond to play third base. Though the article from The Athletic says the Jays would “desire” to hold onto Guerrero, Rosenthal made an appearance on “Foul Territory” and extra emphatically shot down the potential for Guerrero being traded.
Although the match could be a bit awkward, the Jays might use the facility. Toronto’s offense was near league common final yr, however lots of that was because of having a stroll fee that was bested by solely six different groups. Within the house run division, they have been truly one the worst golf equipment, forward of simply the Marlins, Rays, Nationals and White Sox.
They don’t actually have a strict designated hitter, which maybe supplies a path for Alonso and Guerrero to share a lineup. Justin Turner was their main DH for the primary half of final yr however he was traded to the Mariners on the deadline. It might make it a bit tougher for the membership to relaxation somebody like George Springer, however it appears the Jays have some openness to it regardless. Guerrero taking the recent nook might permit larger flexibility, however he solely has 104 innings there over the previous 5 seasons. Most of that got here late final yr because the Jays have been enjoying out the string on a misplaced season. It’s unclear how a lot willingness they should put Guerrero there in significant video games.
Financially, it appears the membership nonetheless has powder dry. They reportedly had a powerful provide on the desk for Burnes as of some weeks in the past, earlier than he signed with the Diamondbacks. Since then, they signed Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33M deal, however that’s absolutely effectively shy of what they have been keen to pay Burnes.
It’s theoretically potential that signing Alonso might give the Jays some cowl for the occasion they’ll’t signal Guerrero, an impending free agent, to an extension. Nevertheless it appears extremely probably that Alonso might be securing a take care of the power to decide out after 2025, which means he would solely stick round for 2026 if he has a down yr. They’d probably desire to have Guerrero locked up long run, since he’s considerably youthful than Alonso, whereas seeing Pete stroll away earlier.
There are absolutely different golf equipment within the combine as effectively. Alonso has been related to the Giants, Purple Sox and Angels in latest weeks. Groups just like the Tigers, Athletics and Mariners make sense as speculative suits. Since Alonso rejected a QO, the Mets will obtain a draft choose after the fourth spherical if he indicators elsewhere. The penalty for the signing membership will rely on their revenue-sharing standing and whether or not they paid the aggressive steadiness tax final yr. Maybe we may have readability quickly because the staring contest with the Mets seems to be ending.
