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Jorge Castillo
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Pete Alonso‘s first experience with free agency did not transpire as he anticipated. In the end, however, he ended up back with the New York Mets, where he wanted to play all along.
“For me, this was it,” Alonso said after the Mets’ first full-squad workout Monday. “Throughout the entire offseason, we had the best dialogue from the Mets, and that was it. For us, this was the best opportunity for me, and I’m just really happy to be back. This was it.”
Initially seeking a long-term deal, Alonso signed a two-year contract to return to the Mets earlier this month after a prolonged saga that included rampant speculation, blunt public comments from team owner Steve Cohen regarding negotiations and an in-person meeting to reach the finish line.
As recently as late January, a reunion didn’t appear likely. It was then, on Jan. 25, when Cohen called the negotiations with Alonso “exhausting,” noting at a fan event at Citi Field that he believed the contract structures presented to the club were “asymmetric.”
Cohen did not close the door on re-signing Alonso, but he signaled that the team was ready to move forward without him.
A week and a half later, Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns flew to Tampa, Florida, where Alonso resides, to meet with Alonso and agent Scott Boras. There, Alonso and Cohen expressed their desires to come to an agreement, and the Mets offered two contracts — a three-year deal and the two-year, $54 million deal with an opt-out after this season that he eventually took the next day.
“It didn’t change any relationships at all,” Alonso said of Cohen’s comments and his free agent experience. “I’m just happy it got done. I’m sure Steve is really happy. And David’s really happy. And, for me, I just want to do right by him and do right by the people that have continuously believed in me throughout my career. This has been home, and it’s home.”
Alonso, a homegrown fan favorite, is a six-time All-Star with the second-most home runs in baseball since debuting in 2019. But the market determined that his age — he turned 30 in December — and a lack of value on defense and baserunning did not warrant a long-term deal.
Alonso acknowledged that his production last season — he recorded career lows in home runs (34), RBIs (88) and OPS (.788) for a non-shortened campaign — impacted his market. He said he also believed that rejecting the one-year qualifying offer from the Mets, which meant any other team that signed him would lose at least one draft pick, deflated his market.
He described his contract, which pays him $30 million in 2025, as a “bridge” before he likely opts out to test the market for a long-term deal after this season.
“I definitely feel like I pushed the market forward a little bit,” Alonso said. “For me, making $30 million as a first baseman this year, it’s definitely an accomplishment, for sure. Just pushing the market forward for a 30-year-old first baseman. So, for me, that’s a win.”
Securing a long-term deal will require Alonso reversing his regression from the past two seasons in a lineup that will now feature Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto hitting in front of him. It is, in effect, another platform season, one he enters 27 shy of setting the franchise career home run record.
“Of course I’ve given it thought,” Alonso said. “… To be a part of this franchise in that way, it’d be really special. Can’t wait.”