First baseman Pete Alonso and the New York Mets will complete games at the Miami Marlins on Tuesday and Wednesday before the Amazins head back toward the Big Apple to prepare for Friday’s home opener versus the Toronto Blue Jays.
Per Will Sammon of The Athletic, Alonso recently spoke about signing a two-year contract that included a player opt-out following this season to return to the Mets after numerous stories linked him with the Blue Jays this past winter.
“You have to think of what’s presented,” Alonso said about his free-agency decision. “Of course, you have to think and talk and think things over. But ultimately, this was the best decision, best place and best circumstance. Not just the history, but what we’re doing with the future. It was a very easy decision.”
Alonso repeatedly made it known before he reached free agency that he loved featuring only for the Mets from when he made his MLB debut in 2019 through the final game of the 2024 National League Championship Series. Nevertheless, it appeared to outsiders that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns had little interest in locking Alonso down via a new deal until angry fans let Stearns and team owner Steve Cohen know during an event that they wanted the “Polar Bear” back.
Cohen ultimately got the deal done with agent Scott Boras before spring training began.
“I knew everything that was going on the entire time,” Alonso said about his free-agency journey. “There was no point where I was in the dark or wondering. For other people that didn’t have a look behind the curtain, that’s where they say, ‘Oh, it was a crazy offseason.’ No, it wasn’t. For me, I got to see the whole process — I had everything in front of me.”
For the second straight year, Alonso is facing the reality that he could soon play in the final home opener of his Mets tenure. The 30-year-old often received loud ovations during spring training games held in Port St. Lucie, and the fan-favorite should be quite popular among paying customers at Citi Field on Friday afternoon.
“You get to enjoy it in the moment for maybe less than two seconds because then it’s game time,” Alonso said about what he’ll hear ahead of his first at-bat on Friday. “But then, really, you enjoy it more when you think back and reflect.”
Alonso insisted he was focused on taking “care of business here in Miami first” rather than on Friday’s contest or his pursuit of the Mets’ franchise record for career home runs. The Mets will need a non-pressing version of Alonso at the plate throughout the spring and summer as they look to do more than just return to the playoffs this coming fall.
