Steve Cohen on Pete Alonso's Mets future: 'We hope we work things out'

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During a visit with his team, Mets owner Steve Cohen made time for face time with the face of the franchise: Pete Alonso. 

Alonso’s future with the Mets is among the major questions they’re facing after a series of pre-deadline trades made clear their focus is less on 2024 and more on the years after. Alonso is scheduled to become a free agent after next season. 

Echoing general manager Billy Eppler’s recent sentiment, Cohen praised Alonso but did not say straight up that he wants to sign him to a long-term contract. 

"Listen, we love Pete as a Met. He's an integral part of the Mets,” said Cohen, who spoke with many players during his pregame visit to the clubhouse Wednesday. “He's still with us for another year. We hope we work things out. Even with Brandon (Nimmo), we worked things out in free agency. Hopefully we get a few shots at the apple and try to figure it out.” 

Will Cohen try to sign Alonso to an extension before he reaches free agency? 

"I don't want to talk about private conversations,” he said. “What I will say is Pete is a great Met.” 

Cohen on Buck 

Cohen referred to manager Buck Showalter’s status as “status quo” but stopped short of guaranteeing he would return for 2024. 

“Anything's possible,” he said. “I've got a three-year contract with Buck. Buck's working his (butt) off, doing a good job.” 

Contracts don’t always mean the employee will be back, though. 

“I can't predict the future,” Cohen said. “I couldn’t predict this, if you asked me two months ago if we'd be in this position today. Buck is doing everything I ask him to do.” 

He added: “I don’t put it on Buck. I put it on the players . . . It's kind of unfair to put it on the manager.” 

Cohen also said that Eppler “did a phenomenal job” at the trade deadline. 

Nimmo and Marte close 

Nimmo said he is day-to-day with left quad tightness. He was out of the lineup for a second day in a row Wednesday. 

Starling Marte (migraines) likely will be activated for the Mets’ series against the Orioles that begins Friday, Showalter said. 

Ridings released 

The Mets released Commack native Stephen Ridings, a righthanded reliever they acquired from the Yankees in November. 

Ridings missed most of this season because of injuries and, upon joining Triple-A Syracuse, had a 4.91 ERA in 11 appearances, striking out 11 and walking eight. 

Extra bases 

Francisco Alvarez was named the NL Rookie of the Month . . . The Mets added reliever Phil Bickford and infielder Jonathan Arauz to the roster and sent reliever Vinny Nittoli and catcher Michael Perez to Triple-A Syracuse.

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

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.