Pete Alonso signed a two-year, $54 million deal with the New York Mets last offseason, but there’s a catch. He can opt out after this year.
And let’s be honest – after the season he’s having, that opt-out is pretty much a done deal.
Alonso’s putting together one of his best campaigns yet. He made the All-Star team and he’s hitting a career-high .280 average. The power’s still very much there too – 21 home runs and a National League-leading 21 doubles tell that story.
Those numbers are setting him up for a big payday in free agency. But while Alonso’s happy he stayed put this season, he’s being pretty realistic about what comes next.
“I mean if it works out, you know, it would be really special to (stay),” Alonso told SNY. “But again, there’s a lot of things that happen business-wise and a lot of unpredictable things that happen in free agency.”
That’s the reality of modern baseball right there.
“Yeah, this time around, like last year there’s no guarantee, but happy I stayed. This is a great team, it’s a great group of guys. We’ll see what happens business wise, nothing’s guaranteed, so we’ll see.”
The Mets weren’t comfortable making him a long-term offer last winter. Now that he’s playing like this – as a five-time All-Star having one of his best seasons – will that change their thinking?
Alonso’s always talked about wanting to stay in New York, but he’s also going to want to get paid fairly. And after this performance, he’s got every right to test the market.
What makes this interesting is the timing. The Mets are clearly evaluating what they have, and Alonso’s making it harder and harder for them to let him walk away.
Source: SNY’s Colin Martin
