Keith Hernandez: Mets should sign Pete Alonso to extension now

Keith Hernandez is advocating for the Mets to sign Pete Alonso to a contract extension.

Alonso, 28, has one year left on his deal, and newly hired president of baseball operations David Stearns was non-committal when asked about the possibility of signing the first baseman to a long-term deal Wednesday.

“It’s very important,” Hernandez said prior to a meet-and-greet with fans at the MLB Flagship Store in Midtown Manhattan Thursday afternoon. “He’s got a body of work. He’s not just a comet, a shooting star [that has burned out]. He is incredible with his power numbers.”

Alonso's agent, Scott Boras, said Wednesday that he had "a long conversation" with Stearns earlier this week at the general managers meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona. Stearns, speaking after Boras held his news conference, called Alonso "a really good player," but added that he's "not going to predict the future."

Meanwhile, Hernandez said that the criticism directed at Alonso by a WFAN host late last season was both unfair and unwarranted.

“I don’t know where that was coming from,” Hernandez said.

During a segment of the Brandon Tierney & Sal Licata Show on Aug. 11, Licata, citing unnamed sources, suggested the Mets needed to trade the slugging first baseman because Alonso was part of a “toxic clubhouse.”

When asked about Licata’s comments during his media availability at the store,  Hernandez endorsed Alonso.

“Pete’s a good teammate,” said Hernandez, who played for the Mets from 1983-89 and now is a color analyst for SNY. “. . . I thought it was kind of mean-spirited. Whoever started that, I thought it was very, very mean-spirited.”

Stearns said Wednesday that he expects Alonso to be the Mets’ Opening Day first baseman.

“I do not anticipate him getting traded,” Stearns said. “I don’t draw lines in the sand and I’m never going to say never, but I absolutely think it’s fair: I don’t anticipate him getting traded.”

With Tim Healey