In Pete Alonso's free agency, Mets offer something nobody else can
The Mets need to figure out what’s up with first baseman Pete Alonso. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Pete Alonso is experiencing a version of what every player dreams.
For the first time since he committed to the University of Florida more than a decade ago, he actually has a say in where he will play baseball next season. He is a free agent and about to cash in on generations-changing money after establishing himself as a high-end slugger. He is, as Mets owner Steve Cohen put it Thursday, “entitled to go out, test his market and see what it is” — find out who values him and how much.
But here is the reality, for Alonso and for the Mets. They offer him something else no other club can: a chance at a one-team legacy and the opportunity to build on his perennial All-Star resume with the club whose fans long have loved him — plus all that that entails, from the would-be-inevitable franchise home run record to maybe someday having his No. 20 retired.
“Definitely from Pete’s standpoint as well, there’s a body of work that you’ve already put into it. It’s quite a good body of work,” Brandon Nimmo, who made a similar calculation during his free agency two years ago, said in an interview near the end of the Mets’ season. “Starting over with another team is something that you definitely are OK with, and your goal at that point is to bring a World Series to whatever organization wants you. So you know that that’s possible every single year.
“But as far as the body of work for you as an individual, it definitely goes into the decision-making process. Could you end up being enshrined one day as one of the better players for that organization?”
Let’s not be naive. Money matters most with these things. If the Mets don’t want Alonso back, their contract offer will reflect as much, and he’ll go elsewhere. That happens each offseason.
But in a scenario in which a Mets deal is comparable to that from another club or clubs, secondary factors will be relevant. They were for Nimmo, at least until Cohen came in with an eight-year, $162 million proposal that ended negotiations quickly.
“There is some extra value there,” Nimmo said of continuing an established relationship. “For both sides.”
Because of the feelings involved, this is a different sort of decision for president of baseball operations David Stearns, who built a track record with the Brewers by prioritizing value and efficiency over all else — most infamously when he traded closer Josh Hader to the Padres in 2022, a bummer for the clubhouse that tanked Milwaukee’s season.
Giving a nine-figure deal to a 30-year-old first baseman is, from a pure on-field baseball standpoint, inherently risky. But this isn’t a pure on-field baseball call.
“We all have emotion. I have emotion, Steve has emotion, we all have emotion,” Stearns said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re drawn to this game. While making decisions, it is also my job to try to strip that away a little bit and try to implement processes and systems within our organization that allow us to make the best decisions possible both near and long term.”
Processes and systems are why Cohen hired Stearns. Contracts at this level, however, are approved by — and sometimes driven by — ownership. Cohen, who described the Mets as “still engaged” with Alonso, will approve any deal the Mets put forth.
“We hope he stays as a Met,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get there.”
In late September (before the Mets brought in Juan Soto as a new franchise and lineup pillar), Nimmo was of the mindset that the Mets and Alonso indeed will get there.
“It’s hard to look at this and see how the Mets and us, we don’t end up with Pete at the end of this,” Nimmo said. “But there’s always these dark horses out there that are kind of keeping hush-hush and then come hard. So I’m not putting that past anybody because Pete is a very desirable free agent. I think there’s going to be quite a few teams that are going to be testing those waters and wanting to be in on him.
“Selfishly and from our team aspect, it’s like, yeah, we would love to have Pete back. It’s hard to envision him in another uniform . . . I know that he’d like to come back. But I also know he’s going to do what’s best for him. It’s all just part of the process.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
