By accepting a two-year deal that included a player opt-out after the 2025 campaign, returning New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso put himself in a contract season for the second straight year.
Mets owner Steve Cohen recently spoke with Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports about how Alonso will handle the pressure of facing another “prove it” season.
“If he performs well, good for him, right? I mean, how fantastic is that,” Cohen explained. “He just has to be Pete. Go do his thing. Hopefully, he’s more relaxed. Not saying he wasn’t relaxed. But hopefully, he can go focus on what he does, which is baseball, and enjoy the season with his teammates. Let’s go win something.”
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor warned ahead of the 2024 season that a player who may not “perform [well] thinking about numbers” should “try and get [a deal] done in the offseason.” After Alonso reportedly rejected a seven-year, $158M contract extension offered by the Mets during the 2023 campaign, he entered last spring without a multiyear deal. Then he endured slumps that resulted in his home runs, RBI and OPS numbers dipping from the previous season.
Mike Puma of the New York Post noted that Cohen flew to Tampa this past Tuesday for a meeting that included Alonso, agent Scott Boras and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns.
“I really wanted to humanize the negotiations,” Cohen told Jon Heyman of the New York Post. “I wanted him to hear it straight from me — two human beings having a real conversation.”
That conversation resulted in Alonso accepting far less money than he envisioned at the start of 2024. It also proved that Cohen was right to trust Stearns regarding a process that seemingly involved the Mets bidding against themselves to win Alonso’s signature.
“That’s why I hired him,” Cohen said about Stearns. “He’s very good at what he does. He’s very patient and disciplined and thoughtful and that’s the kind of thing you start to see paying dividends over time. We’re seeing it.”
Whether or not Alonso is with the Mets next winter or becomes the franchise’s all-time leader in home runs by October shall be seen. For now, the “keep Pete” portion of the fan base is happy that the “Polar Bear” is on track to serve as lineup protection for All-Star outfielder Juan Soto on Opening Day.
