Perhaps Pete Alonso signs a contract with the Mets in a matter of days. Then again the length and how much could extend into the new year or a month before the start of spring training. Regardless, Alonso is one of few remaining free agent first basemen without a team.
So every Mets fan waits. Though not the drama or suspense with the Juan Soto, Mets record breaking contract. Alonso won’t command Soto money, but the Mets need to re-sign their homegrown player. Soto and Alonso would benefit each other in the same lineup.
Soto batting third with Alonso in the cleanup hole? A duo, perhaps not as dynamic as Soto batting behind Aaron Judge, but the Mets lineup will become more dominant. I have been questioned when, how much, years attached to seeing Soto and Alonso back-to-back in the Mets lineup?
I can only answer that it’s in the hands of super-agent Scott Boras and Mets owner Steve Cohen, a duo that got Soto to leave the Bronx and play across town at Citi Field for the next 15 years, pending an opt out (that the Mets control) which is always possible.
However, the odds of Alonso returning to the Mets stand a better chance with first basemen off the table, as Christian Walker went to the Astros and Paul Goldschmidt signing with the Yankees. The Guardians brought back free agent first-baseman Carlos Santana.
Alonso is the prized free agent remaining among the teams seeking more production from the first base position. The Mets need him, and Alonso would prefer to return. The specifics and how remain a major storyline going into the new year, though Alonso’s below average numbers have obviously put him at this precarious position.
Reportedly the Giants, Mariners, and Cubs who are in search of production in their lineups with a defensive need at first, have interest in Alonso though no offers have been out on the table. The value and length of the contract are indeed factors so the Mets would make sense.
Reports of five years, $140 million? Logic says the Mets can easily go with those numbers, Boras, though is known for going that extra length and continuing to drag this to the highest bidder. Realize, this won’t become a spring training or early season Alonso signing. The Mets don’t want to go that route, neither do Alonso or Boras.
The Mets realize what is at stake here. Alonso the fan favorite would be a significant loss if they don’t come to an agreement. Alonso doesn’t miss time out of the lineup, 24 games over the past six years. He played the entire 162-game slate this year and all 13 of the Mets’ unexpected post season.
At 30-years of age, the production has declined, though Alonso’s 226 home runs is second to Judge’s 232 since his inaugural season of 2019. And there is every reason to understand how a home run hitter will have a few down years. The best ones have had bad years, with the exception of Judge, whose only down seasons so far in his career has been when he has been injured.
Those in baseball have informed me that Alonso wants the Mets. One said to me “It’s the Scott Boras landscape.” referring to getting the best for his player and what better example to that with the Mets signing of Soto.
Truly, though, Alonso can put the Mets over the hump of being an elite team in the National League and increasing their odds of winning the NL East over the Phillies and Braves. Again, though it may take a push and shove approach with the length of a new contract.
“An elite home run hitter,” a longtime scout said. I asked a former Mets teammate about Alonso, he said “Perfect teammate and he loves the Mets, the city. The Mets are not the same without Pete in the lineup.”
But in this world of baseball economics, Alonso is no stranger. He turned down a previous Mets offer and opted for free agency which got to this point. Perhaps Boras did not envision Alonso not as high on the pole and the length of a contract becoming an obstacle.
Regardless, Alonso and the Mets are at this so-called critical moment of time. The Mets can survive without Alsono, their lineup though so much better with his presence and there is Juan Soto.
He deserves to be a Met and they will eventually get this done.
Rich Mancuso: X @Ring786 Facebook.com/RichMancuso
About the Author
Rich Mancuso
Rich Mancuso is a regular contributor at NY Sports Day, covering countless New York Mets, Yankees, and MLB teams along with some of the greatest boxing matches over the years. He is an award winning sports journalist and previously worked for The Associated Press, New York Daily News, Gannett, and BoxingInsider.com, in a career that spans almost 40 years.