Mets' Pete Alonso believes the club's early success under David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza is sustainable
Pete Alonso #20 of the Mets looks on during batting practice before Game Two of the Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on October 02, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Credit: Getty Images
MILWAUKEE — As much as almost anybody with the Mets, Pete Alonso has borne witness to a dizzying degree of turnover of organizational leadership, the foundational variable in their search for stability. He has experienced five heads of baseball operations and five managers (and two owners) across just six seasons.
With this regime, though, led by president of baseball operations David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza, the Mets may well have figured it out. Year 1 has featured a playoff berth. Expect more of that, Alonso said. He likes what he sees from this group.
“This,” he told Newsday, “is going to be sustainable for sure.”
Think back to this time last year. The Mets had just come off a miserable season with the highest payroll in the history of the sport. Stearns was brand new, great in theory but still just a theory with a big-market, non-Brewers team. He was embarking on a managerial search (which yielded Mendoza). Even with optimism about a fresh start, the Mets were in a muddled, uncertain state.
But now? They look on their way to becoming a high-functioning franchise. The organization, in Alonso’s view, “is in excellent standing.”
“Making the playoffs is a huge accomplishment,” he said. “This year was an incredible bounce-back year in many ways.”
Whether Alonso is around for what comes next remains to be seen. He is a free agent after this season, so his future will be a primary storyline in the Mets’ offseason, which they are in no hurry to begin.
Alonso’s impressions of the Mets under Stearns and Mendoza, however, are positive.
“It’s been great. It’s really all been about winning and about our confidence in one another and the trust that we’ve all had,” he said. “It’s been great. We’re here [in the postseason] for a reason. There was no panic at all throughout the course of the year. They gave us the runway over the course of 162 games and we proved that we could do it. We just need to keep rolling.”
Alonso cited the Mets’ “tremendous talent” as reason for optimism, which he said was true even before this year. As examples, he pointed to the two players on long-term contracts, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo, as well as “a ton of young talent,” namely Francisco Alvarez, Mark Vientos, David Peterson and Tylor Megill
“There’s plenty of building blocks and pieces,” Alonso said. “I know we got some incredible arms down in the farm right now, including Brandon Sproat [the Mets’ minor-league pitcher of the year].”
He continued: “It's not like there was any sort of concern [a year ago or previously]. We had the pieces. It’s just a matter of figuring it out day to day at the big-league level. And winning games. That’s really what it’s all about."
And that’s what the Mets have done in 2024. Alonso has been a middle-of-the-lineup presence throughout, posting just an OK year by his standards: .240 average (better than 2023), .788 OPS, 34 homers, 88 RBIs. His 31 doubles were the highest total of his career.
What Mendoza said he has noticed most about Alonso: “how much he wants to win."
“How much he wants it for this organization, for this franchise,” he said. “It was a big deal for him to play the 162 [games], and that goes to show you. His leadership, the way he goes about his business, going through struggles, and the way he handled the whole situation. He's been doing it his whole career, in New York especially, and he did it again this year.”
Blackburn done
Paul Blackburn officially will not return in 2024, according to Mendoza. He has continued to deal with back issues after being diagnosed with a spinal fluid leak in late September.
“He was still feeling it and going through testing,” Mendoza said. “It’s safe to say he’s done for the year.”
The Mets acquired Blackburn from the Athletics at the trade deadline, bumping Megill from the rotation. Blackburn had a 5.18 ERA in five starts before initially getting hurt. Upon returning, Megill had a 2.32 ERA in six starts.
Blackburn is under the Mets' control for 2025.
Extra bases
Tyrone Taylor started in centerfield for a second postseason game in a row and a 14th time in 16 games overall. Heaping praise on backup who has been playing regularly, Mendoza said, “I don’t think people talk enough about Tyrone Taylor” . . . What is Alvarez’s favorite thing about Vientos? "He's swaggy. He’s swaggy,” Alvarez repeated. "How he looks every day and how he walks, how confident he looks. I love that for him.”
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.
