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.
Although it should come as no surprise that a top player under representation from Scott Boras plans to test MLB free agency, New York’s early public admission that it will not be able to sign him to a contract extension is not encouraging for the outcome of the negotiations.
Alonso, who will soon turn 29 years old, is still among the MLB’s finest power hitters. Despite his OBP dropping to a career-worst.318 and his batting average plummeting by 60 points last season, he managed to record a slugging percentage of.500 or higher for the third straight season.
Alonso’s chances of playing for the Mets again this season are considerably higher if he tests free agency. Matt Chapman remains unsigned, a sign that Boras is quite comfortable with his clients waiting until spring training to sign new contracts. How long until New York is a contender in the World Series again will be a new question if Alonso does decide to leave the team.
