Pete Alonso finally said the quiet part out loud.
Tuesday night after hitting two home runs to set the Mets’ all-time record, the homegrown first baseman expressed a desire to remain a Met for life. With 254 career home runs, Alonso will likely maintain the title of the Mets’ home run king until he leaves Queens. That exit could potentially come this winter, as he faces the possibility of becoming a free agent for the second time in as many years.
Owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns can prevent that by locking him up with a long-term extension.
“I have a goal to play baseball until I’m through my age 40 season, and for me, I’m going to work hard and do that,” Alonso said Tuesday night at Citi Field after the Mets crushed the Atlanta Braves, 13-5. “The business side — Steve and David, they’ve got to come through.”
Alonso, 30, sought a multi-year contract last winter, but one never materialized. He came to terms with the Mets on a two-year, $45 million contract that pays him $30 million this season, and has a player option for 2026 that would pay him $24 million. However, with the season he’s having, he’ll almost assuredly opt out to try for more money and more years of term this winter. No agent would allow Alonso to settle for less than what he’s worth, especially not a pro-labor super-agent like Scott Boras.
For years, Alonso’s coaches and teammates have been saying he wants to stay with the team that drafted him. Alonso himself always said he would like to stay, but he was never quite as emphatic or direct as he was Tuesday night. Passing a franchise icon like Darryl Strawberry might embolden even a lesser player, but Alonso has earned the right to be candid, having helped the Mets put butts in the seats since his rookie season in 2019.
A second-round draft pick out of the University of Florida in 2016, Alonso has become a five-time All-Star who regularly hits big home runs in big moments. He’s capable of handling the harsh criticism that comes with playing in the Northeast, and has helped take the harshness of the spotlight off of his teammates at times when it burned too hot for them to handle.
Even Tuesday night, he tried to take the attention off of himself and put it on the team.
“It’s really not going to settle in because right now, we’re in the thick of a playoff race,” Alonso said. “I don’t really want to make this about myself because this is about the team, this is about guys fighting every single day and doing whatever they can to win. I’m just trying to do my part.”
Alonso and his wife, Haley, have given back to the Queens community through the Alonso Foundation. They’ve been strong stewards of the organization, bringing awareness to those affected by 9/11 and partnering with animal shelters throughout the area. They navigated the tumult of the club through scandals, controversies, hirings, firings and ownership changes without ever publicly expressing any negative sentiments.
Alonso hit more home runs than any other rookie in baseball history in 2019 en route to winning NL Rookie of the Year. Coming out of the pandemic, he helped generate excitement for a new owner, Cohen. He drove in 131 runs in 2022 to help the Mets snap their five-year postseason drought.
Last fall, he hit one of the most important home runs in franchise history on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers. A ninth-inning home run in Game 3 of the Wild Card series sent the Mets to the Division Series for the first time since 2015.
“I love the city in New York, I love this fanbase. It’s been great,” Alonso said. “But again, the business is the business side, if they choose to go in another direction. But for me, it’s been an absolute treat and pleasure here. I mean, this group is really special.”
The one thing he hasn’t been able to do in a Mets uniform is win a World Series. Strawberry, however, did, but then he left for his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers. Dwight “Doc” Gooden, the ace of the 1986 World Series team, also left the Mets, going across town to the Yankees. Their departures gutted the fans.
Alonso wanting to stay to help the Mets win a title might not make up for 30-something years of heartbreak, but it certainly would help a new generation of Mets fans start to believe again. Ya gotta believe, right?
“There’s only one organization that you’re drafted by, there’s only one organization that you come up with and you set these marks with,” said Brandon Nimmo, a homegrown outfielder who signed an eight-year contract after the 2022 season to be able to finish his career with the Mets. “To have to restart is not something everyone wants to do.”
Few players mean as much to their clubs and fanbases as Alonso does to the Mets. The feeling is mutual.
All that’s left is a mutual agreement on a contract.
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