The Dominoes Continue To Fall In The Pete Alonso Free Agency
Entering free agency, the market for Mets free agent slugger Pete Alonso was always going to be an interesting one. An aging first baseman, who has arguably the best power in the game, but does not exactly play terrific all-around defense, on the open market for the first time posed an interesting question. Well, so far, we have yet to get an answer to that question, but several of the potential dominos are continuing to fall.
A few weeks ago, according to Bookies.com, the top five favorites to land Alonso included the Mets, three teams that have already found their 2025 answer to first base, and the Seattle Mariners.
On Saturday, the Yankees reportedly signed Paul Goldschmidt, the Astros reportedly agreed to a contract with the other top first baseman on the open market, Christian Walker, and the Arizona Diamondbacks reportedly acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians. The Guardians, who found themselves with a hole at first base, promptly signed Carlos Santana to fill that new void.
Each of those three teams made up three of the top four landing spots for Alonso according to Bookie.com. So, with all those moves, it would appear the Mets would be the odds-on favorite to bring Alonso back. This especially due to the current hole at first base the team still has and the now limited options on the market with the busy day the first baseman market saw on Saturday. Outside of Alonso, the next best first baseman still on the market according to projected wins above replacement (WAR) in 2025 by Fangraphs is Josh Bell, who owns a projected WAR 1.6 less than Alonso; a huge gap.
Entering free agency, MLB Trade Rumors projected Alonso to sign a five-year deal worth $125 million. All indications up to this point have seem to point to the fact Alonso may not exactly land a deal that long unless it includes opt outs. A move as such would seemingly fit president of baseball operations David Stearns philosophy given Alonso’s profile and age. With that in mind, the all of a sudden desolate first base market, and most of Alonso’s main suitors finding answers elsewhere, is a return to the Mets nearing? Only time will tell.
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