Mets owner Steve Cohen on Pete Alonso negotiations: 'I don't like what's been presented to us'
Mets owner Steve Cohen on Saturday painted a grim picture of the chances of re-signing free agent Pete Alonso.
“I’m being brutally honest; I don’t like the negotiations,” Cohen said in front of an estimated audience of 1,500 avid Mets fans during a panel discussion at Citi Field.
“I don’t like what’s been presented to us. Maybe that changes. Certainly I’ll always stay flexible. If it stays this way, I think we’re going to have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with the existing players that we have.”
Cohen was seated alongside president of baseball operations David Stearns, manager Carlos Mendoza and the moderator, SNY’s Gary Cohen, for a 45-minute session that was part of the team’s Amazin’ Day fan festival.
In what otherwise was a feel-good event for everyone involved with the Mets, past and present, the Alonso discussion made for a stark change in tone.
The three panelists received enthusiastic applause when they entered the room, but as they sat down, a chant of “We want Pete!” arose from the audience.
On every other subject, fans were supportive and responded with cheers to what the brain trust had to say. When it came to Alonso, there was tension in the air.
After earlier describing how difficult the negotiations to land free agent Juan Soto had been, Cohen said: “Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. Soto was tough. This is worse.
“A lot of it is, we’ve made a significant offer. I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. I think it’s highly asymmetric against us, and I feel strongly about it.
“I will never say ‘no.’ There’s always the possibility. But the reality is, we’re moving forward and we continue to bring in players. As we continue and bring in players, the reality is it becomes harder to fit Pete into what is a very expensive group of players that we already have, and that’s where we are.”
Cohen did receive some applause for bluntly explaining his stance — and his evident frustration with Alonso’s agent, Scott Boras, whom he did not name. But again, not everyone in the crowd was on the owner’s side on the subject of Alonso.
When Gary Cohen first asked about Alonso, Stearns began with: “I think we all love Pete. We’ve said that many times.”
Several fans responded by shouting, “Then sign him!”
Stearns continued: “I think as we’ve gone through this process, we’ve continued to express that, and we also understand that this is a business, that Pete, as a free agent, deserves the right — and has the right, or the privilege, really — to see what’s out there.
“We also feel really good about the young players who are coming through our system who have the ability to play at the major-league level.”
Fans saw where Stearns was going with that line of thinking, so some booed.
“We saw that last year,” Stearns continued, referring to the developing players, “and that’s not always the most popular opinion, but we saw that last year and we’re going to need to see it again.”
When fans again started chanting “We want Pete!” and then chanted Alonso’s full name in a sing-song style, Gary Cohen tried to quell the uprising with hand gestures urging calm, but the owner grew visibly annoyed.
“C’mon, guys, let’s hold that for the end, OK?” Steve Cohen said. “We’ve made a significant offer to Pete.”
Said a fan: “Get it done!”
Gary Cohen later brought the conversation back to the subject of giving young players opportunities to grow, some of whom helped the team in 2024 and are back for ’25.
“We have to have room and we have to have space and we have to be patient,” Stearns said. “That can be really tough in this business. That can be really tough in this market. But these players deserve patience, and we’re going to give it to them.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
