Why Pete Alonso should prioritize the Mets over money

Pete Alonso, a free agent for the first time in his career, is entitled to continue exploring the market to see what else is out there. He more than earned that right with his six years of service time. But by now, he also has a good idea of his market value. He might not agree with the general assessment, but as other free-agent first basemen have flown off the board, Alonso no longer has the upper hand or the luxury of competing for top dollar.

With his options dwindling, it’s long past time for Alonso to decide what is most important: his legacy or his contract.

The former involves breaking New York Mets records as a beloved homegrown slugger. The latter could mean making more money elsewhere, but perhaps at the expense of having a more memorable career.

Alonso has explored the market for three months, and we still have no evidence to suggest that any team has made him an offer that even sniffs Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s salary of $28.5 million in 2025, which is currently the highest average annual value for a first baseman in Major League Baseball. If Alonso and his agent Scott Boras thought they would set a new ceiling for first basemen, or even come close, they surely know by now that that won’t be the case. Really, they should have known that by August or September.

The Polar Bear picked a bad time to have a dull regular season. Prior to his series-winning home run versus Milwaukee, Alonso was stumbling into free agency by whiffing with the pressure dialed up. He batted just .191 in high-leverage situations, continuing a steady drop-off in such at-bats in recent seasons. He sported a career-best 1.099 OPS with runners in scoring position in 2022. That figure fell to a still-elite .918 OPS in 2023, followed by a career-worst .761 mark in 2024. For a slugger who doesn’t do much besides hit home runs, his career-high 42.1% ground-ball rate in 2024 was also an unfortunate uptick. He was streaky and inconsistent all season, as opposing pitchers grew increasingly successful with their adjustments against him.

That being said, Alonso is still a 40-home run hitter, and he can still change the game with one swing, like when he propelled the Mets to the NLDS with a three-run shot off star closer Devin Williams and the Brewers. His 226 home runs since 2019 are second-most in baseball in that span, just six behind Aaron Judge's total. And for all the talk about how his body might hold up long-term, Alonso still posts every day. After playing all 162 games last year, Alonso ranks third among all first basemen in games played, behind only Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson, since his 2019 rookie season.

So, how does Alonso’s value on the field fit in with the highest-paid first basemen in baseball?

After Guerrero, Freeman earns the second-most per year among MLB first basemen with a 2025 salary of $27 million, followed by Bryce Harper ($25.3 million AAV), who was playing right field when he signed his $330 million extension with the Phillies, and Matt Olson ($21 million AAV), according to Spotrac. Alonso was always expected to earn more than Olson, and perhaps come close to Harper, in terms of AAV. But matching Freeman’s annual salary, or even surpassing it, seemed like a long shot before Alonso’s pedestrian 2024 regular season. After it, well, he's seeing for himself how much he is (and isn't) worth on the open market.

Two years ago, Alonso reportedly rejected then-GM Billy Eppler's seven-year, $158 million extension offer. In retrospect, that decision was a massive miscalculation on Alonso's part. This offseason, with president of baseball operations David Stearns calling the shots, the Mets have reportedly offered somewhere around three years, $70 million, with potential opt-outs built into the contract.

The recent underwhelming contract structures must be abhorrent to Boras. But while Alonso can listen to his camp, he can also pick up the phone and speak to Mets ownership himself. That’s not unprecedented, as Judge finalized his contract with the Yankees by speaking to Hal Steinbrenner directly and ending his free agency. Currently, fellow Boras client Alex Bregman remains unsigned, and reports indicate Jose Altuve has been involved in negotiations, trying his best to bring Bregman back to the Astros while possibly circumventing Boras in the process. Both Alonso and Bregman don’t have much leverage, and Boras doesn’t seem to excel in those situations.

Steve Cohen made it clear this past weekend while speaking at the Mets' FanFest event that he is unhappy with the Alonso negotiations. His comments, refreshingly transparent and seemingly off the cuff, showed contempt towards Boras, and sent a message to Alonso with nobody else interfering.

"Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation," Cohen said. "I mean, Soto was tough. This is worse. I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. I think it’s highly asymmetric against us and I feel strongly about it.

"I will never say no. There’s always a possibility. But the reality is, we’re moving forward. We continue to bring in players. As we continue to bring in players, it’s harder to fit Pete in. I’m being brutally honest. I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us. Maybe that changes. And certainly, I’ll always stay flexible. If it stays this way, I think we’re going to have to get used to the fact that we may have to go forward with the existing players we have."

What Cohen shrewdly withheld was how much the Mets need Alonso. That’s why he left the door open.

The Mets arguably won the offseason when they signed Soto to a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract in December, but the best version of their roster includes building strength around him. Infielder Mark Vientos showed a ton of promise last year, belting 27 home runs with a .837 OPS after being left off the Opening Day roster in the spring. But he’s still young, and lacks the experience to be counted on consistently.

Soto needs protection in the Mets lineup, and we saw first-hand last season how much he benefits from batting in front of a talented slugger. Soto posted a career-high 179 OPS+ while batting ahead of Judge, despite his walk rate being at its lowest since 2019. Similarly, the Mets want Soto swinging, and Alonso’s presence in the lineup would force pitchers to throw more strikes to their best hitter. Soto, of course, propelled the Yankees to the World Series after several Judge-only lineups failed to break through; the Mets would love for their new superstar to do the same for them.

So, all that booing you heard from the Citi Field crowd at FanFest because Alonso remains unsigned came from a place of love. That’s how New York fan bases roll. People are upset that their team and one of its best players can't agree to a deal, especially when he’s homegrown and beloved around Queens. It’s an intangible quality that other interested teams don’t possess. Cohen, a fan-oriented owner since the beginning of his reign, has a track record now that illustrates the lengths to which he’ll go to make the fan base happy. He seems to understand that signing Alonso would uplift the organization and its goals, but he also wants a fair shake.

Alonso might have sour grapes with Cohen and the Mets for offering a contract that’s less than he expected or believed he deserved. So, maybe he’ll continue holding out. If he doesn’t sign with a team in the next couple of weeks, he could miss the start of spring training. It’s understandable if Alonso is upset with teams, particularly the Mets, for failing to recognize and appreciate his value the way he does.

But at this point, he has to move on and accept that his market is what it is, and he can’t change it this winter. It’s disappointing that he played his entire career looking forward to reaching this point, to enter free agency and finally earn what he believes he deserves, only to be underwhelmed by the negotiations. The only thing he can control now is playing better in 2025 in hopes of resetting his market. Alonso is 27 home runs away from surpassing Daryl Strawberry as the Mets' all-time leader. He’s one signing away from cementing himself as a franchise legend versus an unpopular mercenary. The choice is his, but the ending to this saga always seemed like it was painted in orange and blue.

It’s time for Alonso to accept that his destiny is calling him back to Queens.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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