Major League Baseball’s hot stove has entered the new year, and Pete Alonso’s free-agency saga involving the New York Mets continues to inch forward with little known progress.
A resolution might not be on the immediate horizon, either, as neither side appears to be in any rush to hammer out a deal. That is the luxury that comes with it being the first week of January with a fairly narrow market.
Outside of the Mets, Alonso does not have a ton of nibbles. Recent days have seen the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels — a pair of west-coast, big-money, free-dealing, but scarcely-big-name-landing clubs — emerge as potential options for Alonso. However, New York is still viewed as the overwhelming favorite for a reunion.
Alonso understandably will look for the combination of term and a high-value contract. No one in the National League has hit more home runs than him since he debuted in 2019, and he is on pace to smash every power-hitting record in Mets history, which will land him amongst the franchise’s greatest ever.
The Mets, however, are obviously and understandably looking at the reality of things. Alonso turned 30 on Dec. 7, and his 2024 season, featuring a career-low .788 OPS with 34 home runs and 88 RBI provides understandable pause as to whether last year was an anomaly or if it is the downturn of a player who will begin exiting his prime sooner rather than later.
President of baseball operations David Stearns will likely be angling for a shorter deal that carries a higher average annual value (AAV) — something along the lines of a four-year deal worth $110 million, which pays Alonso a still-handsome $27.5 million per year.
That sort of deal might not be the most attractive to the Polar Bear and his agent, Scott Boras, who roughly 18 months ago envisioned a record-setting contract for a first baseman that eclipsed the $200 million mark.
The longer negotiations continue, and the closer spring training gets, the more of an advantage the Mets have. Should that ruin the relationship between player and organization, though, the Mets could pivot at least this year and have Mark Vientos take over at first base and pursue third-base options either within the club (Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio) or outside of it (Alex Bregman). Next winter, Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will potentially hit the open market.
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