The Mets and Pete Alonso have been in a staredown for some time nevertheless it appears the membership is blinking. Andy Martino of SNY experiences that they now anticipate him to signal elsewhere, with immediately’s settlement with Jesse Winker a part of a plan to unfold cash round to numerous alternate options. Earlier immediately, Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Alonso’s market was heating up, with the Blue Jays and Mets concerned, in addition to a 3rd unidentified workforce.
Alonso and the Mets have clearly had mutual curiosity in reaching a brand new deal for a very long time, however with out the power to agree on a worth level. The membership reportedly supplied him a seven-year, $158MM extension in the summertime of 2023, however a deal didn’t get performed. Since then, there have been adjustments on either side of the negotiations. The Mets employed David Stearns to exchange Billy Eppler atop their baseball operations division in September of 2023, with Alonso then hiring Scott Boras the next month.
In the course of the 2024 season, the perimeters usually expressed admiration for one another however by no means appeared to make a lot effort to get an extension performed. Alonso turned down a qualifying supply and have become a free agent. Although he was linked to numerous groups in current months, he by no means appeared to get a deal to his liking. Alonso’s camp reportedly pivoted to a short-term deal, pitching the Mets a three-year pact with opt-outs. The Mets gave the impression to be considerably amenable to this framework however a spot on the cash nonetheless prevented a deal from coming collectively.
In current weeks, the Mets have additionally been linked to gamers like Winker, Anthony Santander, Alex Verdugo, Tanner Scott, Luis Arráez and Tim Hill. Additionally they reportedly supplied Teoscar Hernández a two-year deal earlier than he returned to the Dodgers on a three-year pact.
Martino’s report compares the Mets’ present plans to these of the Yankees after lacking out on Juan Soto, spreading cash round to numerous gamers versus one large splash. After Soto went to the Mets, the Yankees gave out offers to Max Fried and Paul Goldschmidt, in addition to buying and selling for Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger. They may have performed a few of these strikes at the side of Soto however maybe had been extra aggressive in these areas since they hadn’t tied up their sources with the one mega deal.
The Winker signing alone doesn’t cease the Mets from bringing again Alonso, as the 2 coexisted on the roster in 2024, with Alonso the common at first as Winker hung out within the outfield corners and designated hitter slot. However there was some reporting that the membership desires to make use of some inside choices on the corners. Mark Vientos was the common third baseman final yr and had a breakout yr on the plate, however with subpar defensive metrics. He might maybe transfer over to first, whereas the Mets use Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña to cowl third base.
Maybe issues will change within the coming days nevertheless it now appears attainable that the Mets are certainly ready to stroll away from Alonso. The sooner reporting from The Athletic indicated the Mets had been in talks with numerous gamers and didn’t need the stalled Alonso negotiations to get of their approach. Whereas Winker doesn’t strictly block the trail for Alonso to come back again to Queens, it does appear to sign that the Mets are ready to maneuver on.
Extra to come back.
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