The New York Mets entered the offseason with the intention of either signing All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso to a long-term contract or having Yoshinobu Yamamoto emerge from the winter as the team’s new face. Rather, with Yamamoto in Los Angeles, the Mets will go into spring training unsure of Alonso’s future.
Having missed out on the best young free agents this offseason, New York turned to more modest moves. The team decided to take this action in order to maintain long-term financial flexibility, as it was required after making trades last year to partially fund the salaries of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.
The Mets are unlikely to come to an agreement on a long-term contract with Alonso this season, according to David Stearns, president of baseball operations, who made this admission to Chuck King of the AP. He will therefore become a free agent next winter.
Although Steve Cohen, the team’s owner, has the financial flexibility to spend heavily on elite free agents in the upcoming winter, the Mets appear to have closed the door on extending Alonso’s contract.
That’s most likely what will happen. As you can see, these things typically end up in free agency when you have a really good, talented player who is entering his final year of club control and who also happens to be represented by Scott Boras. This is an organization that has experienced that with elite players in the past and has come out on top.
