Mets' Franchise Cornerstone Likely Headed For Free Agency

While it was pretty much confirmed by president of baseball operations David Stearns earlier in camp that the New York Mets will likely take their chances by trying to re-sign Pete Alonso in free agency, team owner Steve Cohen reiterated his top baseball man's comments.

Cohen, while speaking to reporters in Port St. Lucie on Sunday, made it clear that the most likely outcome and best move for the Mets and Alonso is to let the home run hitting first baseman put together a big season and then hit the open market next winter.

“We haven’t had any discussions,” Cohen said, “and I think at this point, as far as for Pete, it’s best for him to have a great year and not be distracted. I think it’s best for the ball club. We know how to do this. We did it with Edwin (Diaz), we did it with Brandon (Nimmo) after the season, and so we’ll figure it out when we get there.”

What Cohen is referring to is the 2022-2023 offseason, where the Mets went to free agency with Diaz and Nimmo un-signed before retaining them on massive long-term contracts. Diaz landed a five-year, $102 million contract, which was the richest deal for a closer in baseball history at the time, and Nimmo inked an eight-year, $162 million deal to return to Queens.

As previously mentioned, Stearns spoke candidly about Alonso's situation at the start of spring training. The Mets are fully aware that Scott Boras clients typically test the waters in free agency, which is the norm for superstar talent.

"Look, when you have a really talented player, who's really good, who's entering his final year of club control, who happens to be represented by Scott Boras, these things generally end up into free agency and we understand that," Stearns said at the start of camp.

Although Cohen didn't get too deep into Alonso's status on Sunday, he did express how important his franchise cornerstone slugger is to the team. He also admitted that he hopes Alonso makes it difficult for him to not re-sign him.

“He’s an important part of our team today and hopefully in the future,” Cohen said. “We know the fans feel strongly about him, and I’m not tone-deaf. I totally understand the fans’ love of Pete.

“I hope he hits 55 home runs and makes it so difficult on me in free agency. I would call that a great outcome.”