At this afternoon’s presser to introduce Juan Soto, Mets owner Steve Cohen said the team is “still engaged” with Pete Alonso (link via Tim Britton and Will Sammon of the Athletic). That comes a few days after baseball operations president David Stearns said at the Winter Meetings that the team would “love to bring Pete back.”
There hasn’t been much public chatter about Alonso’s free agency. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last night that Alonso would have interest in joining the Yankees if the Mets don’t make a serious push to retain him. Ties between the Yanks and Alonso have been fairly loose, though, as reports have cast them as stronger suitors for Christian Walker. Beyond the New York teams, chatter about the Alonso market has been speculative. The Nationals and Giants are among the teams that could use an impact bat at first base, but there’s no firm indication they’ve been involved.
Alonso declined a qualifying offer last month. Aside from the Mets, every team would forfeit draft picks and/or international signing bonus space to add him. The Mets would relinquish the right to receive a compensatory pick, but that’d only come after the fourth round if he walked. It’s a minimal barrier.
The slugger is coming off a relative down year. Alonso hit .240/.329/.459, the first time in his career he’s had an OPS below .800. His 34 home runs is a personal low over a full season. It’s not an ideal time for his production to dip, but there’s obvious value in a player whose floor is a 30+ homer showing. Alonso has been incredibly durable and started 160 games this past season. He heated up in the postseason, hitting .273/.431/.568 with four homers over 13 games.
As MLBTR explored in a post for Front Office subscribers last month, Alonso is a tricky free agent to value. His reputation could lead his camp to seek a deal approaching or topping Matt Olson ($168MM) and Freddie Freeman ($162MM with deferrals). Front offices have increasingly devalued this general profile, though. Alonso has limited defensive and baserunning value, while his average and on-base percentage are middling.
Stearns preferred not to invest heavily at first base during his time leading baseball operations with the Brewers. Milwaukee ran payrolls that were a fraction of what the Mets do under Cohen, of course, so that’s not necessarily an indication of how Stearns will operate in Queens. Even after paying Soto a record $51MM average annual value, New York has an estimated luxury tax payroll around $252MM (via RosterResource). That’ll probably end up north of $300MM by the end of the offseason. They could certainly accommodate Alonso financially. New York also needs to add at least one starter and will probably deepen the bullpen via another acquisition or two.
He’ll be a met
Its up to him tho, i suspect he is deciding how much he is willing to leave on the table
I just don’t see anyone putting more on the table than the Mets. If the Yankees aren’t interested, who’s going to have the money to sign him for what he wants? His worse nightmare would be Walker going to the NYY and Bregman signing with the Mets.
Im sure someone else. Very hard for us to know such things. I havent done much research on it either. Likely a mid or small market team with a post season shot and a hole at dh or 1b obv
If the red sox trade Casas for a starting pitcher, as has been suggested, then they are very much in play for Alonso. Red Sox need right hand power.
I feel bad for Burnes and Pete. If NY LA isn’t interested that’s a lot less $. It was nice having SD for a few years. Gotta hope the Giants are interested and ownership isn’t letting Buster make all the decisions or maybe he likes giving awful contracts. Philly can be a player but tied up this year.
I wouldn’t be interested in bringing him back as a Met except in this situation with a possible weak market. Mets would be much better off with Walker Goldschmidt Santana or trade market.
i dont think anyone here actually has done any research on walker whatsoever. he is a stop gap and is not a ‘win it now’ signing. he isn’t “bad” but wtf do people keep mentioning him like a wash with pete.. he is not even close. santana and goldschmidt are not good options either. tho i would be willing to look. alonso is bets fit except maybe trading for vlad or signing bregman
I don’t value Pete that highly. Hrs are nice but other than that the other 1b are better. More importantly cheaper in aav and years. 200m Pete can wherever I’ll take Santana for 10 or Goldschmidt for 20 and spend elsewhere or pocket $. Yeah Cohen doesn’t need it but I think he got a bad taste when he wasted it and got Stearns. Pete for 100m they would gladly bring him back I think. He just better decide before they go a different direction.
I agree. Mets cant wait around. Pete should resolve it before mets do elsewhere
I think you are very much overvaluing those guys u named, seriously none re getting better and he production except walker has already greatly declined. Petes value has generally been tied to maintaining his average. Imo thats his biggest risk. But they likely need to keep or improve his spot in the order to compete with dodgers. If this is about changing perceptions, u pay pete adames money. If they know they can land vlad u wait but have to know likely via soto
oh please no, they should sign burnes
As a Giants fan Christian Walker is no joke. He’s better at the bag. Hits for better average and has punished the NL West. Not just at home. My guess is ages better as well. Pete is a monster. But Walker will get better value to a contending team. But Pete in NYY? That’s a fit with that porch. Problem is they have to hide other hitters defensive limitations already. Rizzo staying in NYY?
Until the international free agents get signed or retract then his market might only be NYM until mid January anyways.
He better age better than pete as he is 3 years older with 3 good seasons in his career
The Jays might put more on the table than NY. They are likely becoming increasingly desperate to make a big move. The only way they get him though is if he’s all about maximizing his earnings. Other than money they don’t really have a whole lot to offer right now.
Probably. But he won’t be getting near the contract he was hoping for
We’ll see. I see him getting over what mets offered last year
Alonso will be this year’s Boras Corp loser. He already turned down an offer from the Mets that won’t be matched.
It’s one thing for Soto to cross after one season, but alonso going to the Yankees would make people cry
Itll be a major sign of disrespect that will come back to haunt the yankees after cohen let them have judge with no bidding
Ray – The obvious difference with Judge is that the Yankees wanted him back.
If the Mets don’t want PB back, they would be fine with him going to the Yankees.
Mets want pete back imo i dont think thas the question
@Sad – Don’t see Yankees signing him. He is a sub-par defender. Yankees need to bring in a guy that can field at 1b and/or 2b.
Mets need to sign their own player. Doesn’t Uncle Steve have money for his homegrown guys!
Anyone who says he is a sub par defender isnt really worth listening to. Any it sub par he is on D is meanigless it is so small. And i doubt he is anyway
@Raymond – Over last three years, he’s negative in Outs Above Average and his 1 DRS is eclipsed by 40-50 other 1b. That’s sub-par defense.
You can quote whatever defensive statistic u want. Ive watched him plenty, his defense is fine. Defensive stats are awful
That’s really a flawed way at looking at defense for a 1b. Their most important job is picking throws from other players. He’s the best in the game at that.
Preach.
I don’t need the metrics.
He picks fine. He makes the plays. He’s surprisingly adequate there at first.
if you watch him day in and day out, you’d see he does not hurt you with the glove. No gold glover and not pretty at times. But he is Ok. Ask KH he has said as much.
“He is a sub-par defender”
He’s adequate. And with the shorter fences at Yankee Stadium, he’d provide solid value for the next 3-4 years.
Again its a big mistake for yankees but faafo maybe cohen wont punish them idk
And the skills he’s developed picking throws at first are actually excellent.
Punish them how? You act as if they would have the roster space sign everyone imaginable. They don’t, they won’t.
Cohen put Soto above his big homegrown star, there’s your disrespect. Cohen also outbid the Yanks, his outgoing team, who sent five players out to get him. Where’s the disrespect there?
Yanks should sign him, show them some fight.
Lol sounds like weakness to me, a lot like it actually. Im amused by all the salty justifications every other fan base used forever that now the yankees blather. Gold. Oh how the mighty have fallen
I’m just saying this whole disrespect thing you’re flaunting isn’t a thing. San Francesco had no problem trying to sign Judge. “…Cohen let them have Judge” lmfao.
Pete’s a free agent. Period. The Yankees need a 1b, if they like him, they should put in an offer. No salt necessary.
he did, you should thank uncle steve
Judge literally took less to stay with the Yanks. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Legacy is important to a lot of these guys. Not every player is a money grubbing Boras fed scum.
San Francisco is across the country. It’s apples and oranges.
They don’t want him because not only is he a poor defender, he leaves countless RISP. Moreover he’s a HR or nothing player he is totally inconsistent offensively.
He was bad last year with RISP, but to be fair, his career OPS with RISP is 911. You can’t consistently have 100 rbi seasons without producing with RISP. But yes, last year he came up small with men on a lot, and only had a 762 OPS w/ RISP.
@Salzilla – Soon we’ll hear about how Soto is also an excellent defender now that he is on the Mets. He’s got a good arm but he definitely should not have been a Gold Glove finalist this year.
Uncle Hal (LOL) will let them have Alonso. He’s an above average hitter, but want someone with a better glove.
I’d be crushed. Pete is the current Mets David Wright. Home grown, power hitter who represents the organization well, gives to local charities and is a pillar of the community. Oh I forgot. Nobody in the NL scoops up bad throws better than him. Stearns should stop worrying the fans and resign him already.
Him not worrying you is 0% of his job description. Pete could have signed last year, it isnt his job to not worry you either tho
Most NL 1B scoop throws better than him.
Pete is a very good defender. Ive never once thought pete was a danger to us in the field. Moreso the opposite
That’s just ridiculous. You don’t have a clue. He ranks far and away the best 1b in the mlb for scooping the ball according to fangraphs.
@Metsin4 – So you picked one aspect of his game and that makes him a good defender or the best? You mentioned Fangraphs…like I said they have him at negative OAA, 1 DRS and negative UZR. That’s subpar.
This is like me saying Trevino is the best catcher because his framing, his blocking and his calling a game….yet overlooking how awful he was in throwing out baserunners. Except that’s one bad thing. Alonso has multiple bad defensive ratings.
His scoop stat was 39. That’s how many errors fangraphs says he prevented. You do the math of -1 defensive save but saving 39 errors from other players. The next highest was less then half. I would rate him as on of the best 1b in the league.
Scoop is most important. Not close.
Alonso is fine defensively. If you think he is a problem you werent watching the mets or dont know what youre seeing. Numerous times its been evident to me alonso is a good defender. And ive said as much. People who are talking aout alonsos defense are aimply making things up and some are using obscure stats that are meaningless. Could he be better yea obviously,is thefe ayting wrong with his D, no, get over it. Never seen so many fools talk about irrelevant defensive issues as this offseason. Gotta be yankee salt
Freddie freeman is a better scooper 😉
I think of Piazza more as a Dodger than a Met. Hell, I even picture him as a Marlin slightly more.
Okay, that’s absurd. He is clearly a Met.
Not really. He put up 32 bWAR for LAD and was brought up by them. I think Piazza’s brother was also manager Lasorda’s godson. He had 24.6 bWAR with NYM and only spent one more season with them than LA.
that is one of the most asinine things I have ever seen on this comment section, which is saying a whole lot
He was a Marlin for like two weeks. Stop trolling.
Piazza was a Dodger and then he was a traitor!
Piazza was a Dodger when I first got into baseball and the mental association has stuck. The Marlins bit was a joke, but I still vividly remember the interview he gave while wearing their cap.
Piazza had more success as a Dodger than Met. The Mets made the World Series and had 9/11 with him. I don’t blame you for your bias. But I think you’re underestimating the impact Piazza had as a Dodger and how he’s still perceived by fans from that era.
My apologies – that reply was intended for lfcredsox.
Alonso is in decline though and really the Mets should give a fair offer and if he doesn’t take it move Vientos to first and sign Bregman or leave Vientos at third and sign Walker for a much cheaper and shorter contract
Walker is not a safe option. Bregman maybe but pete suits mets better imo. I like bregman tho
@Raymond – Not safe because of age? Walker is the premier defensive first baseman. 3 Gold Gloves and at the top of most the categories (OAA, DRS, etc).
Offense is above average. Alonso is better offensive player but Walker is much better on defense.
walker just left his prime and has 3 total good years… no thanks. go look at their stats side by side. and go look at other guys as bad as walker passed the age of 33
alonso last two years 5.8 WAR
Walker 6.4
walker only has 1 other decent year recently and 2 total and is 33 years old
Or moves to first base..
@Raymond Flagstaff,
Walker’s more well rounded, been rather consistent his last 3 seasons…quality on both sides of the ball including gold gloves.
Soto as DH is a long time from now. He just turned 26.
I agree i wouldn’t want them to overpay for pete just bc fans like him. I want to see them win a title so whatever helps that, I’m all for it. If he will come back at a reasonable price, thats great
Problem is from what ive been reading is fans do not understamd what reasonable prices are. The very term reasonable is skirting the issue because fans dont know
@The biggest tr0ll,
I have no doubt Cohen’s well aware about fallout of too many long term deals for aging position players on same team. I think the Mets are conflicted about retaining Alonso.
@ Seaver. Please, let’s cut the sycophantic fan love and deal with realities: The Mets offered Alonso 6 year, $150M during the season and he said he’d rather test the market. Reports, true or not, were that he was seeking over $200M, and a higher AAV than Freeman or Olson. So the Mets said, “Ok, test the market and then we’ll talk”. And thats what’s happening now. He has the right to test the market, and the Mets are right to not overbid while he does it.
Pete is no David Wright. Not even close.
But I get your point.
David Wright was a consistent bat who won a gold glove, please don’t compare him with David. The only thing in common is that they both came up through our minors leagues, nothing more.
If he’s not a Met, it means either Stearns is just completely opposed to bringing him back, or Boras heavily over priced him. He’s worth much more to the Mets than he is any other team.
Boras’ job is to get players as much as they can get. It doesnt benefit him in any way to miss the match between mets and alonso unless mets wont pay enough and he gets it elsewhere
This will be Bora$ big swing and miss this year if both NY teams pass.
Could be. I doubt it however
Mets got good pr going. There attendance is going up with or without Pete. That’s why they signed Soto for so much.
Pete isn’t much more valuable or at all than Walker Goldschmidt Santana. Those are all good 1b and much cheaper than Boras demands.
maybe you should go look those players up then as i don’t think you have a clue what you are saying… but they are all very old and mediocre! if the team is win now, as in this year… then alonso or bregman perhaps is the guy. otherwise you can mess around with a walker perhaps
What should I look up about them? I already know their age and love it! Positive for me.
Oh yea we all love broken down 38 year olds with 1 WAR but i thought we were having a conversation
Walker is cheaper and less of a long term commitment..
Also if you look Alonso the younger player had the same bat pretty much as someone 4 years older than him for the past couple of years. The difference is Walker also has been the GG 1b for the past few years.
Alonso may turn it around but has also been on the decline with his strikeout percent going up 2% each year over the last few years and his exit velocity is declining as well. Not good signs when you want to be the highest paid player at a position.
Yes but im not talking aout commitment length im talking about who gives them the best chance. We cant make decisions because our information is too incomplete. If we make our own plans its no different than video game trading. From what we know pete or bregman give mets best chance. If vlads available he does. Walker arenado bellinger are ok options. We cant say who is available for what tho. So bst option imo is pete he brings the intagibles too
That’s why I don’t pay any attention to war. Those guys are far more valuable than that.
I hope the Mets sign Pete and for a lot of $. Give the rest of league a better chance. Unfortunately I think they became a smart team so won’t get him unless the market isn’t there.
He’s not worth the compensation he’s looking for, so Stearns is not going to budge and rightfully so, fact is we can do better by signing Walker or moving Vientos. Alonso is a liability at first base, championship teams don’t surround themselves with players who are poor defenders.
Lies
Raymond was 7 years old and seen the polar bear win that hr derby and has been in love ever since.
He’s not going anywhere else than Queens!!!
As a Redsox fan it would be idiotic not to sign him especially after signing soto
From the mets perspective they have other options. But i definitely agree alonso seems like an obvious choice for nym. If its me I offer some good incentives and maybe get the number to 225 i have my doubts he would walk but who knows what various desperate teams might do
225? Even with incentives that seems rich for Pete. Mets shouldn’t go more than 5 years and 145-150MM.
Yea its a bit rich. 225 is not what i would be trying for. Its what i would consider going to. Fact of the matter is people arent getting that inflation strikes contracts too and fans almostnever predict it
Again
Arods contract is over double trout and sotos if you price it in gold. As in you could add trout and soto up and get arods haul. I havent donr the math but you should divide by 9 or so to compare to 2000
True but I think with the FA that signed their markets were pretty strong, although Eovaldi surprised the heck out of me. I just don’t see Pete’s market that strong right now. If Mets don’t sign him I can see him doing a 1 year prove it type contract.
No way do i see alonso taking a 1 year deal. His skill set is known, now is his time
For the type of money Pete’s looking for I could def see it. Like I said his market isn’t that strong. There are a ton of 1b option to trade for and still have Walker out there at a cheaper price point. If Mets are out who’s gonna be paying him big money he’s looking for?
@Raymond: I would not consider going anywhere near $220. Offer 5/$125 million and maybe creep up on the AAV a bit. I don’t think anyone is giving him much more than that and at that point, even from his perspective, taking slightly less to stay with the only team he’s known, which is a WS contender, makes sense. Mets have an owner willing to do what it takes to win, a good GM, and a fanbase that already loves him.
I dont think they are. As i said thats my number to get it done. Maybe there are better options. 125 doesnt seem likely to ge it done imo. Metshave a lot of options for 220 maybe they go with those. But a alonso sized hole in thelineup would be a big deal
So when you use an actual currency as a base of comparison the dollar isn’t worth as much? As of today the factor is 9.6. So your money is worth 960% less because the government prints more every time they can’t pay for their next war.
you are saying he is better than all other 1b and by a large margin? the highest salary for a first baseman currently is 8 year a shade under 170 i believe. Definitely an overpay at 225 for Alonso.
Has nothing to do with that whatsoever
Raymond
No way Alonso gets $225 million
I think four years $120 million with an opt-out after every year
Could be. But i would expect more than adames if im pete
Adames plays a premium position and can move around to other positions. Alonso is either 1b or DH also 1b do not usually get premium pay as many big hitters end up there when they cant field elsewhere. Also hurting him is Walker is still out there and another bigger name coming next season in Vladdy who is younger and i think has higher floor and ceiling.
Add in that the Mets could move Vientos to 1st and have a crazy amount of prospects for 2b and 3b along with Bregman out there while also picking up a draft pick and i think they are eligible for international pool money on top of that which stearns is a fan of.
as for adames eh on the ss versatility. not what he was paid for, like soto he was paid to hit. and i prefer alonso’s bat to adames, but theyre similar in overall impact. i think i’ve revised my max tho to about where adames is. if he wants to walk he can
I hope the Yankees at least run his price up real high before signing Walker or trading for Bellinger.
Such a huge mistake lol. You think its a good plan to tick off the one guy who can outbid you on every free agent he feels like? And not only that he let you keep judge. So petty bro.
Besides what makes you think any owner is going to run up prices for free agents based only on his pettiness? These are business men, they keep costs down, they dont raise them to hopefully mess with someone else
because they are business men. If you spend more than you originally budget it leaves you with less to spend elsewhere potentially lowering the cost of your real target. Sine there is one less buyer.
Raising the salaries of players does not benefit any team it harms them. The idea cohen has a strict budget is also probably incorrect
It benefits the lower market teams as they may have opportunities when the big teams overspend and take themselves out of the race. With that the player loses potential big dollar suitors and they usually have to take lesser deals. Ala the boras 4 last season. Snell had somewhere around 150M on the table last season but wanted more and everyone spent their load and he ended up under 100M,
Even cohen has his breaking points he could have signed bellinger last year, chapman, snell, etc etc , but he held back because he was almost 400M without factoring luxury tax which would have put him probably half a billion for 1 season. If the right long term player comes along he will open more but Alonso i dont see as the long term productive guy he thinks he is.
So your argument is the yankees want to help small market teams by bidding up contracts?
This whole concept is a fan fiction unlikely more than an extremely rare event
@flyby …dont ever go into business, youd be swallowed alive…
Not petty to drive up price for Mets, but I agree probably not a good strategy, just bid what you are willing to pay
of course its petty for the yankees with n0 competitive reason to bid up prices because the mets got soto (which hint hint they stopped out of fear of cohen leaving at some point, or to not bid up prices)
@Ray – Please, Cohen let the Yankees keep nothing. Judge wanted to play for the Yankees. The Mets were selling everything.
If Uncle Steve won’t be outbid then how come Snell, Fried, Severino for goodness sake signed elsewhere? The Mets need pitching and yet they are shopping at the bargain store.
you don’t clog up your team… i dont understand you point? obviously he can outbid anyone doesn’t mean you give 8 years to an oft injured starter or go crazy for peak severino… not sure your point? he is supposed to get everyone all the time?
Raymo, By your garbage logic no one should bid against the Mets. Make Mr. Pockets pay every time he wants someone and even the playing field a little.
What happens when a player you don’t want accepts your offer trying to run up other teams?
Lol oops guess he didnt think of that.
Mets
Correct answer
easy he “fails a physical” and you rescind the offer and give him a lesser deal or he goes elsewhere.
Yea that should go over well… you serious?
Wow that’s how a owner, team president and GM gets banned from baseball.
Then you lose all credibility with Boras who represents the best of the best by a wide margin. Dude pretty much has a monopoly on the best players.
not to mention is probably literally illegal and opens up civil suits as well if his other suitors moved on
you mean like make an injury for Correa that both the giants and mets rescinded their deals for? GMs get banned if they provide false data on their current players ala the padres to other teams in trades.
Teams have the right to refuse deal based on things they dont like in physicals for free agents. They dont have to and legally can not disclose what they didnt like due to privacy laws to other teams.
now you’re just saying stuff because you seem foolish and think you can justify it. you cant run a team that way. No you can’t. just stop
I don’t know, seems like the Correa concern was justified as we saw last year with him.
@reyday
they did it with correa and didnt seem to stop him from talking to the mets about soto nor Manea or Montas.
Who do you think hurts more if Boras refuses deal with a team that has the richest owner in baseball to get those monster deals Boras and the players he works with or Cohen? Cohen slips he is willing to pay 200M for Alonso you think Boras is going to say no i dont deal with the mets because they rescinded a deal in the past?
He actually failed the physical. What are you talking about?
@Fly One you were talking about out Yankees bidding up Pete not Mets. So that would affect Yankees not Cohen.
Second, the Correa physical was a legit thing not a made up injury you were talking about. He had a metal plate in his ankle and doctors said he’s a ticking time bomb. So you were wrong about that. It’s not even remotely close to making up a fake medical report to get out of contract. If Boras thought the Mets were operating in bad faith you best believe he would have probably stayed with the Yankees.
One i never said an actual player for bidding up.
Second, Correa signed a very large contract with another team pretty much right away with having that same injury and also had it through out his astros career and the twins the year prior. The mets didnt lke the injury or more likely didnt want to commit to correa for that long. I still believe it was because they didnt want him at those dollars. Someone reigned cohen in on this deal and he used it as an excuse not to go through with it.
If you want another example how about the Mets trade with Gomez for flores a while back. Same premise as they backed out of the deal due to “injury” and Gomez was sent to the Astros within the hour.
That’s what the thread you were commenting on was about ?
Obviously the twins felt the injury was real enough to only offer him half of what Mets/Giants offered and with a lot of incentives. I still don’t get how this is even remotely similar to the situation you were talking about before though.
The Mets tried working on a deal with Correa for a full month after it was announced so it’s not like they just cut bait and run. But again these 2 situations are very different. You can tell when someone is trying to negotiate in bad faith and obviously Boras didn’t feel that was the case.
The Mets will probably still finish in 3rd place.
Unless, of course, they don’t.
They have the 2nd highest odds of winning the World Series right now.
Odds based on betting or based on rankings
@metsin4 Take the Under or the Not. That’s absurd. The Mets currently project as a roughly .500 team. They lost 14 players and 16 wins. Their 89-73 record in 2024 was also their Pyth record. It’s reasonable to knock that 89 wins down to 73 then, because they’re an old team with an old, post-peak nucleus, you can knock more wins off Lindor, Nimmo, Diaz, Senga, Marte, and McNeil’s projections while regressing Vientos and Lindor…
Add back 10 wins for Soto, Montas, and Holmes, and they’re right around .500.
Expecting them during the rest of this offseason to make moves that puts them second only to presumably the Dodgers in winning the World Series is right around, what’s the word… absurd?
Yes, it’s absurd.
Yes I think you said they were a 70 win team last year too.
@metsin4 I understand math confuses you son, but calm down. I only pointed out how difficult it is to buy your way to second place in the World Series pool in free agency after losing a lot of your roster—it’s not like I slapped your mother.
I didn’t come up with the Vegas odds of winning the World Series. Smarter people than you did. I only pointed out how wrong you’ve been. I’m not sure where you get off talking about slapping woman. Real big hero aren’t you?
1st, 2nd and 3rd all seem plausible, ask me when they are done shopping for starting pitchers
There’s nothing to be ashamed about finishing 3rd in that division. One of the 5/6 best teams in baseball will
Sign Pete Alonso to a fair market deal or somewhat better if needed! Let’s Make It Happen Uncle Steve and David Stearns! LFGM!!!
The league, in including the Mets, see his price tag as too high and term too long. He signs but late and settles for a shorter deal with opt outs. I think he’s getting squeezed by Walker being still out there.
No team is pursuing him because he outpriced himself, Alonso is a poor defender who is totally inconsistent offensively, now why would we want him back…please, the Mets are better off pivoting from him and addressing the first base position internally or signing Walker.
@juggernaut Fair market value to Declining Pete is probably at most 3/75m.
And I still wouldn’t do it.
What’s the point in keeping Alonso at 1B, where he’s bad, rather than putting Vientos at 1B and going with Mauricio at 3B, with Baty as an outside possibility (DH is more Baty’s future) and whomever the Mets add as their solid backup IFer who’ll need enough of an arm not to embarrass himself at third.
I get that every woeful fan wants to sign through FA All Stars at every position and run a payroll of $400m, but you either bet on your more promising prospects, or you continue to compile an old team of FA almost inevitably in decline.
The Mets old nucl;eus, 30 and over, made $125m in 2024, and five of that six put up around 4-1/2 wins for $90m, and now people want to add the 30 yo Alonso, already in steep decline, to that limping group?
Don’t do it, Stearns.
It’d be a shame if he left, with Soto in tow he’d have real protection. Not sure who else would want him, he really had a disappointing platform season. He’s going to ask for the moon, if any of Boras’ players wait til spring my money is on Pete. If the Mets get a different 1B Pete is going to have very little leverage.
Mets give him 5/110 in Feb. he’s just not that valuable. I don’t want him on the Yankees at all.
@unglar Bill James, among others, showed by 1980 that protection was a myth.
Thought Alonso performance in 2023 was lingering hand injury related. 2024 pointed to it being the new normal. May not be worth it despite sentimental value. Before the WC game winning home run vs Milwaukee, I thought he was the most unclutch NYM since Conforto
Yankees hopefully don’t get him. They can afford to get another guy who can’t run!
In an odd way Alonso is Soto-lite. They’re both subpar fielders and baserunners who live by the bat. The difference is that Alonso has a 134 career OPS+ compared to Soto’s 160. There’s also the difference in ages, if you buy Soto’s stated age (yeah, I’ve seen the same scuttlebutt as everybody else).
For maybe a quarter of Soto’s contract Cohen could also sign Alonso. My guess is that he will, sooner or later. The guy’s got 86% of the money in the known universe.
Correction he has 15% of all skimmable fiat from the stock market lol
Please don’t compare Alonso with Soto offensively. Alonso is totally inconsistent offensively, leaves countless runners in scoring position and his meager 230-240 average is just that meager, now why would I pay a premium price for a slow footed, inconsistent bat and terrible defender?
Alonso has actually been fairly reliable
@Richard Alicea Not to mention Alonso will be fairly expensive, with something like 6/150m probable because teh HRzzz.
It’s ridiculous. He was a 2.1 fWAR bad 1Bman in 2024, one of the easiest positions on the diamond to fill, and he’s obviously well into his decline phase.
It’s entirely possible he never puts up even one more two win season, given the low OBP, the bad defense, and his only calling card, slugging, was a modest .459 in 2024.
Throw out the short season and his one skill, power, has declined every year since 2019, the year of the juiced ball.
Alonso’s a good test, though. Anyone who honestly thinks what the Mets need to do next is to sign him for 5-6 years when they have many holes still on the roster, simply has no idea how value is gotten in baseball.
Alonso’s OPS of 123 in 2023-2024 is what really counts. What he did in 2022 account for around 15% of his 2025 projection, and what he did in 2019 is entirely irrelevant. The biggest favor you can do Pete is to include 2021 in his projection, but that clocks in at around 9% of the total. It;s almost nothing and numerous projection systems won’t even touch four years back.
10/450
I like alonso but for what he has been asking he is not worth it. I would place him near Freeman AAV which is around 25M but maybe 3 or 4 years. You can tack on a million to make him feel good. So get a couple of good years out of him and maybe eat a year of bad. I dont think he will take that though.
For some reason, he screams the next Ryan Howard to me and i dont know why.
Ryan howard was near petes age when he came up, not so sure about that comp
I guess Chris Davis would be more in line and we see what happened to him after 30. Davis wasnt a regular until his 25 yr old season and was a big homerun hitter that had an ops i believe higher than alonso and about the same with the glove but he had a better batting average. Better comp?
Not even close. But his numbers areinteredtin, almost definitely PED-looking
according to baseball reference
mixed bag
Mark McGwire (966.0)
Matt Olson (958.3)
Chris Davis (948.2)
Cecil Fielder (942.8)
Richie Sexson (936.2)
Glenn Davis (914.9)
Tony Clark (904.7)
Ryan Howard (904.0)
Tino Martinez (902.4)
Nate Colbert (902.2)
can you confirm or deny either used peds? I would hope neither did.
Davis did more over his last few season leading up to free agency and had a bigger platform year but after his age 30 age season fell off a cliff. Also before his contract year he had some viability in the outfield.
just dont see it. pete had about 100 HRs before 27 davis is about 70
then at 28 he hit .196
his whole career he had a positive WAR 6 times, pete already has 6 times
davis ended his career with half of petes current career WAR.
i said last few years which is what teams judge on or else you end up in a ke’brayan hayes situation currently or like Matt Wieters from a few years ago that started out as a cant miss guy then around year 4 dropped off and settled for a QO and then 1 and 2 year deals until he wasnt even worth a back up spot.
Alonso i think gets 3 or 4 as his dropoff want as bad but anything over that is an over pay unless its under 20M AAV
Raymo, Chris Davis definitely had the PED bug out eyes going.
Raymo how many guys on that list aged well. I think at least 5 had rough times. Cecil Fielder woof.
Yes which stands to reason as most normal players would have both sorts of comps
“he screams the next Ryan Howard to me”
imo, he shouldn’t. Howard’s prime hitting years were slightly better than Pete’s but Howard was possibly the worst fielder in the entire league through most of his career. He was also among the slowest players in the league.
On top of that, he suffered a brutal torn Achilles injury and remarkably only missed half of a season because of it. Prior to the injury, he never put up a full season OPS+ lower than 125. After it, he only put up an OPS+ greater than 96 once (115 in 2013).
Pete’s a much better defender (still merely average if you ask me). Barring injury, he should be able to provide solid value for the next 3-4 years. Howard probably would have been able to as well if not for the injury. Shame the DH didn’t exist in the NL back then.
Coincidentally, I think 5/$125 million, same as Howard’s ill-fated deal, is a good starting point for Pete negotiations.
Chris Davis?
Chris Davis, Khris Davis, Glenn Davis, were all done after age 30 or 29.
Other close comps are Jim Gentile (age 29 during his last respectable season) and Rhys Hoskins, also done after 29.
It’s almost as if baseball is trying to tell Alonso fans something.
He is not Ryan Howard, Ryan was a consistent 300 hitter who hit for tremendous power and played a solid first base, please stop comparing him with players that are far superior than him. Alonso is not worthy of anything close to $100mil for 5 years.
You just said Ryan Howard “played a solid first base”
He’s Ryan Howard in the sense that Howard was done after age 29, never putting up better than a 1.2 WAR season.
RH was a negative 2.4 WAR producer from age 30 to 36. That’s Pete’s fate, as well.
Uncle Steve is keeping Alonso in Queens. He’s probably the only one that pays him the most too.
If you honestly think “businessmen” don’t bid on items they covet to make it harder for others to get it, you’re pretty stupid. That’s business models in and of itself. Cohen let the Yankees squander 5 prospects to trade for Soto just so they could swoop in and outbid them by $5mil for a contract. That’s screwing another business owner! If the Yanks trade for Tucker and don’t get exclusive signing window with him, Steinbrenner needs to be fired immediately along with Cashman. No more of this silly “we don’t sign extensions before free agency” crap. Hal is not a business man and Cashman is done if they don’t get the Tucker and Bellinger deals done, yesterday.
Raise the prices for all future free agents. Good plan. You got any proof?
@Raymond – Agree, doesn’t make sense to raise prices for the other owners. That’s eventually increases prices for your players.
lets not forget they like to argue for player comps in arbitration too!
4 years $120mil opt out after the first year
Ending up with Yanks gives Steinbrenner last laugh. You know it’s happening. Mets can’t afford anyone else now. Nice pitching they have. Ahahaha
They aren’t even at the luxury tax threshold genius. They are 100 mil under last years payroll. I think the jokes going to be on you.
Close, but no quite. They are now about $5 to $10 million over the CBT, and $80-$85M below last year.
Boras, as usual, wants the Mets to bid against themselves
Whatever the Mets offer he should take, or stand to be in this years “Boras Four” hoping for a deal in March
Do you have more confidence offensively/defensiveky for the next 5 years in A.) Vientos at 3b and Alonso at 1b B.) Vientos at 1b and Bregman at 3b?????
Cohen is baseball’s Dr. Evil.
“laser”
“One million dollars”
If those are the options i would say is roughly equal. Which is why pete makes more sense, but bregman is fine.
Ryan Pressly to the Mets?
Yes! Ryan Pressly, and PETE!
Haven’t they already slept together? I mean, tie the knot already.
move on mets.
this guy is looking for a walk when you need him to get a hit. he isn’t producing much runs.
next stop = richie sexon meets pete incaviglia..do youreally want the +30yr old version of those players for 25mil per for 4/5 years
Doesn’t matter when you average 7 runs a game
wasnt that the yankee strategy? Offense before pitching.
There really hasn’t been any hint of money or years that he wants now that the offseason has started. He is definitely going to leave some money on the table from the original offer (Boras does that to at least one player per year), probably 5@100 or 6@120 at best. They still need to think about Manena and the bullpen. I do think that McNeil will be traded for bullpen help and salary relief. Need to stay under 301 tax threshold if possible.
mets1977 There have been [seemingly speculative] reports of the Astros at 5/$120M, and the Mariners week later at 5/$130M.
Not sure McNeil brings much of a return, and who plays 2B? An unproven rookie who may not be ready for the majors? McNeil’s $12M salary is not an albatross. And the season’s lineup is not etched in stone. It evolves as the year progresses. Easy to see McNeil open as the starter with one of the rooks as a utility player. If the rook plays well and/or McNeil continues to fade, they can ease that into a platoon, then have the rook get most of the 2B time, and McNeil as a UT who can play both IF and OF. But the kids still have a lot to prove before we just hand them the keys to a starting role.
@mets1977 If the Mets are looking to get under $301m (why?), why would they trade a 2Bman who hit to an .850 OPS his last 200 PA and still plays a solid, slightly above average 2B and OF, two positions the Mets need bolstering at?
Or if you think he’s not worth much, why would you trade him at low ebb?
Dealing McNeil makes sense from no perspectives at all.
The career comparison chart obviously is not the be-all, but it could portend the end-all for Alonso.
Looking at Alonso’s 10 comps, look how quickly they fell right off the cliff right around age 30. Hard to ignore that when the eyes have seen what they have seen for the past couple of years.
After all, history rePetes as you may have heard.
Yankees got to pass on polar beat..they need to get more athletic.
Come on daddy warbucks. Just pay him already. Are you really going to close the wallet now. Show the the baseball world how smart you are
He’s signing with the Nationals.
Idk if signing Pete Alonso for 7-8 years at 20-25 mill per year is the wisest long term investment especially when Soto may eventually need moved to 1B if his defense deteriorates in the OF.
The Mets are better off allowing Alonso to walk, he’s not worthy of the compensation he’s seeking. He has no true value other than hitting a HR once in a while, other than that he will whiff. If the Mets are truly looking at becoming a championship caliber team they don’t sign players who are poor defenders and hit 240.
Been saying it since june… $100 M over four years with some signing bonus Bat him 6th if he slumps 7th if he ages poorly
mookiesboy, you can say whatever you want. but it won’t matter if the player won’t take the deal. Alonso already rejected a Met offer of $150 over 6 years last spring. So they’re letting him test the market. We’ll see what that bears.
That’s overpay but I would accept those terms, anything more and it’s a waste of our payroll to bring him back.
Why would you pay close to 30m AAV for Alonso from 2025 to 2028 when he was last worth that back in 2022?
Not a Yankees fan, but think they would be better off with with Walker or Bellinger than Alonso. Defense is important as recent World Series showed. Bellinger gives you so many options defensively as he can play 1B or any outfield position.
Looking at the 1b options for the Mets
1 bring back pete
2 move vientos to 1b, play baty at 3b or trade for arenado/sign Bregman
3 sign Walker instead, keep vientos at 3b
I’d like option 3 the most as it solidifies the defense and is relatively cost effective/short term
I wouldn’t want to commit to Pete longer than 4 years at 110
Option 2 I’m not a fan of because you don’t know if vientos can even play 1b and I wouldn’t spend on bregman. The one reason I can see that as an option is if they want to try and bring in Vlad next year
There has to be some power protection for Soto though, otherwise he’ll get walked 200x
I agree, sign Walker, the cost is less, plus he brings a GG to the infield. Money saved can be used to get pitching and more pitching.
Retaining Alonso is complicated and am not convinced Mets truly want him back. I’m a Mets fan and I’m conflicted and get it.. I want the guy who bleeds orange and blue as he does, and for sentimental reasons belongs on the team and could hit 500 homers as a Met which would set all kinds of team records, nearly double the current Mets all time homers of 252.
On the other hand, he hasn’t lived up to expectation in batting average and OBP and isn’t likely to age well. He would also block first base prospects such as Tyler Clifford or even delay opportunity to move Juan Soto to first base at some point.
A long term deal would lock in 4 positions for a long time and Mets would be carrying three players with deals into their late 30’s in the next 6-7 years.
I hate to say this but when the emotion is taking out of the equation, it would be in the Mets interests to move on from Pete even if he ends up in the Bronx. Christian Walker on short term deal is a better fit. He’s a more balanced player by offering a greater number of skills.
Alonso will get nowhere near 500 HR.
No one with his profile has gotten anywhere near 500 HR. His closest comparisons far more often crash and burn after ages 29 and 30.
The Mets want him back, but they want him at a deal that they think is manageable. And they’re absolutely right to think that way. They offered him 6yrs/$150M, which is the right AAV and a year, if not two, longer than he’ll be productive. And he turned it down, so they’re letting him test the market.
Not sure what rock or blanket it is under which the Mets’ fans in this thread have been hiding that they don’t know this. Or that we’ve seen this play out before with both Diaz and Nimmo – the Mets will let him test the market and then meet with him again and see if there’s still a fit. Steve Cohen said exactly that after Pete rejected the offer and added, “We know how to do this, we’ve done it before”.
@geofft,
Mets fans’ know he turned down 6/158 in 2023 and would test the market after 2024 season. It doesn’t preclude a conflict on the Mets end of pros and cons to extending Pete’s tenure.
And that complication has grown as his OPS and power production have declined and he enters his age 30 season. And that goes for his market beyond the Mets, that it’s reportedly not a vibrant as he hopes. He’s a mixed bag and teams just don’t know which version of Pete they’re paying for.- past, present or future. 2-3 year deal is best for an acquiring team but not likely to be Pete’s preference.
@ LongTime You’re creating, or at least overstating the narrative. There’s no conflict. Its simply a matter of how many dollars and years each side thinks he is worth. The Mets made their statement, and he wasn’t satisfied. Now he’s a free agent and its up to the market – as with any free agent.
That deal was offered before his decline the las two years, that deal is no longer valid. According to Fangraphs his value is 4 years 74mil, now I could live with 4/100mil, anything more would be overpay. Again we are dealing with a player that is regressing, is a poor defender, slow afoot, and totally inconsistent offensively.
I wouldn’t want him at 3/75m. Why spend that AAV on a bad 1Bman in steep decline, whose comps’ careers ended or should have ended after their age 30 season?
That 25m AAV would do a long way towards signing a TOR or extending one gotten in trade.
Giving that money to a slugger who just slugged .459 and projects to slug around .430 in 2025?
Why?
@geofft Cohen offered Alonso 7/158m before Stearns arrived. It was a ridiculous offer, but to excuse Cohen it was made before Vientos’ breakout season.
Now there isn’t even that excuse.
Hopefully Alonso’s free agency doesn’t echo Conforto’s (inaccurate estimates of self & market). Does he provide good enough protection for Soto in the lineup? How much is the Pancake Triple Play commercial worth to Mets? Fielding concerns are not as dire as folk think, I think. Anybody else notice that Pete seems kinda unhappy the last couple of years?
I agree there’s some subtle changes, kinda hard to articulate. Maybe reduced confidence at the dish, less peaches and cream, maybe the stress of his platform season which hung in the background over him this season.
They will do both. Resign Pete and add pitching (mid to top end SP as well as relievers).
Just sign the guy already
what a laugh it would be if he got a better deal than freeman. having them in the same sentence is sacrilege
If the price is right, yes, if not let him move on as he’s a HR or bust player, plus he’s a poor defender and leaves countless of runners in scoring position when we need him to come through, we’ve all seen this movie play out time and time again.
Pete would be a much better hitter, preceding Soto in the lineup.
@alproof The argument that Alonso can only really hit if pitchers are coerced into grooving pitches to him isn’t nearly as compelling as his advocates appear to believe it is.
Are pitchers in 2025 going to stop throwing 6 to 18″ inches off the plate to the outside just because Soto is hitting behind Alonso, when they know full well Alonso will swing at those pitches?
Pitchers don’t throw Alonso strikes because they don’t HAVE to throw him strikes. Where Soto bats in the Mets lineup won’t make any difference to Pete’s results.
Looking more like Pete shouldn’t have turned down the previous offer, but that’s a moot point now!
Personally, I want Pete back, and I can respect any offer The Mets give him. Pete has given us Mets Fans a lot to cheer about and he was making pennies in the baseball world then. He is still going to give us great moments.
Here is my argument on his decline. Everything Pete has given us to cheer about, he has done with NOBODY batting behnd him. We have gone through years of Conforto, JD Davis, Robinson Cano, Dom Smith, Jame McCann, Daniel Vogelback, Jeff McNiel, and JD Martinez.
The only players on that list that could potentially strike fear in the opposing pitchers were Cano, and Martinez of which neither one of them hit a lick in their Mets tenures.. Conforto had some good years, but he wasn’t the threat that would get Pete good pitches.
So Pete has NEVER had fair protection behind him.
That said, Now that Soto is on board, He would be the guy that should bat behind Pete, and Pete will get grapefruits to hit.
Unfortunately from the potential lineups I have seen posted if Pete were to come back, they all have Soto batting in front of Pete. That makes no sense to me. Soto doesn’t need Pete to back him up, He hits whatever comes his way. Pete needs Soto to back him up, so he gets good pitches to hit. Soto could still hit with a McNiel or a Marte or Alvarez behind him. Pete can’t.
So in a nutshell, and God knows I’m a Nut, If Pete re-signs, He needs to bat in front of Soto, not behind him, and then Pete will hit!
My 2 cents for what it’s worth!
@Kevin Michael Farrell So if no one has been hitting behind Pete since he came to the Mets, you have no explanation for his decline from a .941 OPS hitter in 2019 to a .788 OPS hitter in 2024 other than age, but even so you want to pay this fat, slow 1Bman turning 30 $150 million or so?
You also want to waste some of Soto’s run scoring ability by having him hit BEHIND Alonso? Interesting.
Among the problems with your comment is that pitchers didn’t have to throw Alonso strikes in 2024 to get him to swing. Why would they have to throw him strikes in 2025 regardless of who’s hitting behind him, never mind that ‘protection’ in lineups has been shown to be a myth since 1980.
Alonso worked hard to earn the right to test the market in FA. He needs to explore all his options. If he wants to go to the highest bidder good for him. I don’t expect the Mets to be the highest bidder, however the 1B market is crowded and there are only so many desirable landing spots. Maybe the Mets wait him out and the get him for their price. This is a sport where players that were just as beloved and far better players than Alonso have left in FA or were traded. This is business.
Stearns is reasonably smart fellow. He can’t be fool enough to sign Alonso to something like 6/150m when his last three seasons at 27-29 went:
3.8 fWAR
2.8
2.1 in 2024.
Pete may never again put up a season where he’s actually worth putting in the lineup. He’s a long way towards becoming Dave Kingman, a dismal fielder at one of the easiest positions on the diamond to fill, with a low OBP and an SLG down to .459 and an OPS 42 points lower than _Jose Iglesias_ racked up in 2024.
It’s absurd. Move Vientos to 1B, put an average fielder at 3B, and the Mets IF defense ticks up by 16-20 OAA. Put Mauricio at 3B and you’ll likely get 2 wins, more than Pete projects for 2025 and kick that OAA up by as much as 25 runs, total. Put the $25m AAV Pete would get towards actual production, preferable from the TOR the Mets desperately need.
Alonso would be a Cohen signing, and it would be based on a handful of PA in the postseason. Don’t do it.
Come on Mets sign someone already. Its getting ridiculous You can’t sign Soto and do nothing else.
Sign Pete.
We don’t judge here, but being engaged with the whole team seems excessive.
Still, congrats to all.
Why are Mets involved with Bregman. Leave Vientos there and Alonso at first and bring Manaea back. Geesh
Maybe Alonso doesn’t like what the Mets are offering. Bregman might be their pivot plan if Alonso signs somewhere else. That would mean Vientos moves to first.
SIGN PETE! (and Castillo)