Mets president stresses importance of impending free-agent Pete Alonso

Shortly after David Stearns was introduced as the New York Mets’ president of baseball operations last October, he acknowledged that All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso was “an important member of this organization” the Mets were “fortunate to have.” 

With that said, it appears Stearns and Alonso never had a serious in-person conversation about a potential contract extension with the slugger set to reach free agency after the World Series concludes. 

“Pete and I frankly have never really talked about his contract face-to-face,” Stearns revealed during Wednesday’s end-of-season news conference, as shared by Justin Tasch of the New York Post. “I think those conversations are best left generally with a player’s representative. But Pete and I talked about the team plenty. He’s very invested in our group, certainly was very invested in this team this year and, obviously, got some enormous hits for us down the stretch.”

Alonso hired Scott Boras as his agent following the 2023 season and there’s no indication Boras came close to landing the type of extension his client wanted before the ongoing campaign got underway. Some had wondered if big-spending Mets owner Steve Cohen could step in and prevent the fan-favorite from hitting the open market next month, but Stearns poured cold water over such talk on Wednesday. 

“He’s a great Met,” Stearns said about Alonso. “I hope we have him back. I think we both understand this is a process and everyone’s got their own interests. Pete deserves to go out into the free-agent market and see what’s out there and then ultimately make the best choice for him and his family.”

Alonso has played only for the Mets since making his MLB debut in 2019 and almost certainly would set a franchise record for career home runs next season if he stayed put. However, numerous reporters and insiders have insisted since last winter that Stearns won’t want to “commit a long-term deal to a right-right first baseman” who turns 30 years old this December. 

Those same individuals expect Cohen will make signing current New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto in free agency the Mets’ top offseason priority. 

“What he means to this franchise is important,” Stearns added about Alonso, according to Danny Abriano of SNY. “Who he is as a player is also important — what he contributes on the field. There’s no magic formula to this. There’s no equation that spits out what all of that is for us. And so there’s judgment involved, there’s evaluating the market involved. And we’ll see how this process goes throughout the offseason.”

That process will soon involve Alonso’s camp being able to speak with other teams regardless of what the “Keep Pete” portion of the Mets fan base thinks should happen before the final out of the World Series is recorded.