The trade deadline has passed and Pete Alonso is still in a Mets uniform. The speculation that swirled around the Mets’ homegrown star has been quelled as the team made a complete 180 from May and re-entered the Wild Card race in July. One of the faces of the franchise is still with the franchise and fans everywhere can breathe for the foreseeable future.
When the season ends, whether that’s in September, October or early November, attention can turn back to a long-term contract for the Polar Bear. Alonso will be a free agent this winter and he’ll join a class of power-hitting first baseman that includes Arizona’s Christian Walker, veteran St. Louis slugger Paul Goldschmidt and Pittsburgh’s Rowdy Tellez.
The Mets and Alonso’s agent, Scott Boras, have not yet been able to agree on Alonso’s value. Boras has said he’s open to listening to what the Mets have to offer, but he likes to take his clients to free agency to gauge their markets. Spotrac estimates his market value to be worth $32.9 per year, putting him in the realm of an eight-year, $263 million contract.
There is some debate about whether or not the Mets already offered the 29-year-old a multi-year contract, but regardless, he didn’t sign any sort of extension, so the two parties appear to be heading toward free agency.
It’s been an interesting year for Alonso. He’s been healthy, which is important, but he’s posted career-low slugging and OPS numbers. Despite being selected to the All-Star team for a fourth time, his home run pace is down, his barrel rate is down and his expected slugging is down. He owns an OPS+ of 126 (league average is 100), down from 146 in 2022 and below his career average mark of 135. Alonso came into the season wanting to improve his average and his chase rate, and while he’s made some progress with both goals, he seems to be either hot or cold with little in between.
The player who set the Mets’ single-season RBI record in 2022 has been hitting around .202 with runners in scoring position this year, by far the worst of his career.
Alonso recently shot down any notion that he was struggling with the pressure of playing in a contract year, seeming almost surprised by the question.
“Oh no, I don’t think I’m putting any sort of pressure on myself at all when it comes to that,” he said right after the All-Star break. “I know that for me, the only thing I’m worried about is doing the best I can to win baseball games. And for me, like whatever happens with that happens, and I just want to be the best version of myself every day to help this team win.”
The Mets and Alonso are confident that he’ll start producing the way he typically does in the final months of the season. And they may be right: In his first 12 games after the break, Alonso has hit .273 with a .976 OPS, seven walks, six RBI, five doubles and three home runs. Whatever happened in the first three months of the season doesn’t matter. What does matter is what Alonso is doing now to help get the Mets into the playoffs.
Alonso has said all of the right things publicly, and those around the organization don’t doubt his genuineness. He recently told reporters at the All-Star Game that he wants to stay in New York with the Mets. It’s the only organization he’s ever known and he feels as though he’s grown up in New York. It’s a place Alonso and his wife Haley consider home.
While fans might say that if that’s the case, he should sign an extension, he’s taking the advice of his advisors. A lack of contract hasn’t diminished his standing with the fan base either.
President of baseball operations David Stearns plays his cards close to his chest, so it’s unlikely fans will get much information about any potential dealings before the end of the season. But with so many other players coming off the books this winter, he has his work cut out for him.
It’s the story of the season for the Mets, but it matters little until the offseason. For now, the only thing there is to do is watch and wait to see if Alonso helps slug the Mets to the postseason.
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