ORLANDO — Happy birthday to Pete Alonso, who gets to celebrate turning 31 this week with a trip to Orlando. The first baseman will attend the MLB Winter Meetings in person this week as he explores free agency for the second year in a row.
He will not be meeting with the Mets, however. President of baseball operations David Stearns doesn’t see the need for a formal meeting with a player who has been in the Mets organization since 2016.
“I think Pete knows us really well; I think we know Pete really well,” Stearns said Monday in Orlando. “I think he’ll take the time here to, perhaps, meet with organizations he doesn’t know quite as well, and I’m sure we’ll be in touch.”
To be fair, he does have a point. Alonso knows the Mets and knows how they operate. A fancy pitch deck presentation probably isn’t needed when he can pick up the phone and call the staff to ask about any questions he might have. Typically, when players attend the meetings in person, it’s to meet with teams they aren’t familiar with. Managers and executives make their recruiting pitches, present information about their organizations, and the two sides get to know one another to see if it could be a fit.
It sounds like the Mets and Alonso will communicate at a later date. It also sounds as though a market has yet to materialize for the Polar Bear. Stearns declined to provide an update on any negotiations with Alonso, citing his policy of not discussing free agent negotiations.
That’s probably not good news for the fans who were hoping the Amazin’s would re-sign the slugger. Both sides have said they would welcome a reunion, but Stearns has also said the Mets want to see what his market looks like before making an offer. This certainly doesn’t sound like Alonso is an offseason priority, but the Mets have maintained that the priority this winter is run suppression. A bat-first, right-handed first baseman whose defense has declined sharply over the last few years, Alonso doesn’t profile as a player who would be a priority for a team trying to improve its defense, though he’s amenable to being in the lineup as a DH.
But to win games, you have to put runs on the board, and Alonso helps put up a lot of them. To replace the offense, the Mets could sign free agent DH/left fielder Kyle Schwarber. There is some interest in the former Philadelphia Phillies slugger, sources told the Daily News, but how much is unclear.
The Mets are in the market for an outfielder, something Stearns said outright Monday, especially with Brandon Nimmo now in Texas. Stearns also said if they don’t find another outfielder, they would be comfortable with Jeff McNeil spending more time at the position, and top prospect Carson Benge could also play in left.
The Mets reiterated that Juan Soto is not moving off of right field, which seemingly eliminates any chance of the Mets going after Kyle Tucker.
“He doesn’t like DH’ing,” manager Carlos Mendoza said during his media availability Monday. “He takes pride in being a good defender, and he will continue to do so. I’m pretty sure the schedule will dictate [playing time]. Sometimes, if he’s dealing with physical stuff but you’re trying to keep his bat in the lineup, the DH might come into play. But if he’s feeling good enough, he’s going to be out there in right field.”
For now, it’s still status quo with Alonso.
SENGA’S OFFSEASON
Right-hander Kodai Senga is having an “outstanding offseason,” according to Stearns. Injured for all but a few innings of the 2024 season, Senga looked like an All-Star last year until yet another injury took him out. He failed to come back from his hamstring injury with any sort of success, and was forced to spend the last month of his season in Triple-A where the results weren’t any better.
Senga, 32, had a sub 2.00 ERA over his first 14 starts, then posted a 6.56 ERA in his last eight.
Now healthy again, Stearns said Senga feels like he did in 2023 when he was a finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year Award, and the team is happy with the communication from him.
“I do think there’s been a meeting at the middle and I think Kodai has been very motivated to do that,” Stearns said. “I think we’re in a really good spot right now.”
SETTING IT STRAIGHT
Reports of clubhouse strife have been overblown, according to Mendoza. A recent story in the New York Post about Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil not getting along, and a chilly relationship between Lindor and Soto was blown out of proportion after publication. It became social media fodder, with fans and analysts making it seem as though the Mets had a toxic clubhouse.
Mendoza said that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“We had a professional clubhouse,” Mendoza said. “Guys respected each other, guys enjoyed being around each other. We just didn’t play well in the field, and that translated into whatever people call vibes, or team chemistry. But at the end of the day, guys showed up, and they respected each other.”
