Why the Mets might let Pete Alonso walk
Little quibbles:
* I think it's a little cynical to think that Scott, Megill, and Butto will be the three to emerge from the current group of pitchers to start in 2025. I mean, I know you were saying "as of now," but it's pretty meaningless to say. There are a lot of compelling arms in the Mets system and we really have no idea where McLean and Sprout will be a year from now, much less Vasil and Hamel and Stuart and Tidwell and Ziegler and Peterson. They *all* project to be #3-4-5 types? Somebody will emerge from the talented pack. Plus there will be a trade. And if we want to keep Houser, or Severino, or Manea, we have the ability to do that. Personally, I don't believe in Mr. Megill.
* If Soto is part of the plan, it's a terrible plan. He's a Yankee for life. They are not going to watch him cross the street to star for the cross-town rivals, and only a fool would leave the Yankees for the Mets. It never happens. Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Soto. I will admit that you never know, and anything is possible, and there's always a chance, but as a strategy, it's awful. The Yankees traded for him knowing that he's going to require a $450-$500 million deal.
* I'm happy to make Pete the highest paid 1B in baseball. He's a free agent and it's his time. Look at the QBs in the NFL. The highest paid guy is mostly a function of timing and leverage. With Pete, it's about contract length. Six years sounds right. 6/$180 or 7/$200. My guess is that he wants 10/$300. If somebody wants to top that, and Pete wants to leave NY, I would wish him luck in Colorado with Kris Bryant.
* I'm curious: There's been anger expressed here & elsewhere at Cohen/Stearns for not signing Pete yet, despite no one having any idea about the terms of that contract. Now that you've watched the signings of other Boras contracts -- Chapman, Snell, Bellinger -- do you still feel that the Mets should have so easily and quickly capitulated to the agent's demands? Or does the current strategy now make sense? Are you less livid about it?
* The other Pete factor here is: Who replaces him? The additional time of a year's development for Parada and Clifton, and Baty and Vientos, will provide more information. For the Braves, they figured, let's trade for Olson. For the Mets . . . ?
* I hope the Mets can keep Pete, he's an asset to any lineup, and I also really hope that he plays a lot better than he did in 2023, with a BELOW LEAGUE-AVERAGE BA and OBP.
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