Pete Alonso’s Unique Free Agency Could Lead Him Back To Queens
Pete Alonso ended his 2024 campaign with one of the more memorable playoff runs in franchise history, highlighted by his series-winning three-run homer against the Brewers in the ninth-inning of National League Wild Card Series Game Three in Milwaukee. His magic playoff run could have ended one of the more successful and prominent careers in Mets history.
Alonso ended his rookie contract at the end of the season and currently sits on the open market. The Mets and Alonso have both been outspoken about their appreciation for each other, but no deal has been reached between the two sides for the Mets’ third all-time home run hitter to return to Queens to abolish the team’s long ball record, likely become the first in team history with 300 homers, and push the 400 mark.
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Alonso has become a cornerstone of the Mets franchise. Since his debut in 2019, the team has changed ownership, gone through multiple general managers, multiple owners, a plethora of supporting cast members for the slugger, and successfully navigated pandemic baseball. Plus, throughout all of that, Alonso was one of the few constants for the Mets. The concept of a New York Mets team without arguably their most popular position player since David Wright is a fuzzy one, but is a very possible reality at this moment.
As Alonso sits on the open market, Mets fans ponder what it might take for the Polar Bear to return to Queens and team up with Juan Soto. At the introductory press conference of Soto, Mets owner Steve Cohen asserted that the team is “still engaged” with the slugging Alonso, and president of baseball operations David Stearns proclaimed that “We’d love to bring Pete back”, and that “Pete’s been a great Met”. For what might exist for Alonso beyond the Mets, several questions still remain. ESPN baseball reporter Jeff Passan articulated on the Baseball Tonight Podcast that there might not be too much of a market for Alonso, which can complicate things for himself and his agent, Scott Boras. Alonso reportedly turned down a seven-year, $158 million extension with the Mets in 2023, signaling his desire to test the waters of free agency.
Potential suitors for Alonso have been pondered all winter, but minimal material reports have been made on a possible new home. Some had wondered if the Giants were a fit, but signing Willy Adames took them out of the front end of the infield market. Other teams like the Astros and the Mariners have made sense this winter, but both teams find themselves in rumors of trading away key contributors, which could signal a direction opposite of signing a win-now player such as Alonso. The Yankees have been another team that could fit, but their reported interest in Christian Walker, openness to Cody Bellinger, and involvement in the sweepstakes for Kyle Tucker seem to signal that the team is interested in a left-handed power bat, not a righty like Alonso. Beyond these teams, any other Alonso suitor would be pure speculation.
For obvious reasons, the best fit for Pete Alonso going forward is the New York Mets. Whether it be his pursuit of the franchise’s all-time homer record, his desire to win a championship in Queens, or the opportunity to hit behind Soto and Francisco Lindor for at least one season, returning to the team that drafted him, developed him, he has played his entire career with, and has had several memorable moments with makes the most logical sense. In terms of contracts and his market, the Mets are one of the few known suitors. The team has committed to Soto for the next 15 years, and it would behoove them to try and win a championship following their NLCS run last year.
Alonso fits a win-now model, has shown he can handle the pressures of a pennant chase in New York, and holds something else that many down in this new era of the Mets: he is a Met through and through. Alonso was drafted by the Mets in 2016, and has known nothing else in professional baseball. Of course, we all know a Scott Boras client is trying to land the biggest contract, and with over 200 career homers, Alonso deserves that chance. Despite all of that, it does appear as though the stars might be aligning for the Mets and Alonso to renew their vows and give it another go together. The first baseman and slugger needs a home on a fair deal, the Mets need a slugger and a first baseman and have money to spend. The perceived lack of market for Alonso, the mutual love for each other, and a seemingly perfect fit could lead Pete Alonso back to Queens, and one of the most beloved Mets of all time would be back as if he never left.
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