Rick Nelson/MiLB Photo

Mets radio announcer Howie Rose said during Sunday night’s broadcast that “a pretty strong source within the Mets organization” told him the Mets do not plan to bring Peter Alonso to the Major Leagues in 2018 “no matter what.”

Rose continued to say that if Alonso continues to rip the cover off the ball, the best he could hope for is a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas. While this came before the news of Adrian Gonzalez’s release, it stands to reason the Mets had been discussing that for quite a while.

Alonso, 23, has cooled off considerably after an amazing start to his season, though he is still slashing an impressive .310/.441/.567 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs. Despite a current five-game hitting streak, Alonso is mired in a 5-for-33 slump with one solo home run and eight walks.

The man blocking him from the Bigs is in fact no longer Adrian Gonzalez, who was released just after midnight following the 2-0 win over the Yankees Sunday night, but Dominic Smith.

Smith, 22, is hitting .260/.343/.370 with 16 doubles, one triple, and 25 RBIs. The alarming number is his two home runs, with all those extra-base hits factoring into a relatively weak .370 SLG%. All this comes in a notoriously hitter-friendly ballpark in a hitter-friendly league. He was called up to the Majors and should handle first base when Jay Bruce isn’t.

I quite honestly don’t understand why Alonso isn’t in the Mets starting first baseman right now, let alone won’t be at all this season. The Mets have a huge hole at first base while the best first baseman in their system is wasting away in Double-A. The Mets just played the Yankees who have 23-year-old Miguel Andujar and 21-year-old Gleyber Torres, but they won’t consider calling up Alonso until he’s 24 next season?

Across baseball, teams have been sparked by young prospects’ call-ups. We’ve seen how the Braves seem to be over-performing with Ozzie Albies (21) and the now injured Ronald Acuna Jr. (20) on their roster. When evaluating whether or not a prospect is ready for the Majors, age should not be a factor. Their performance should be the sole evaluator, and teams other than the Mets seem to understand this while the Mets may have been scared by the then 21-year-old Smith’s underperformance last August and September.

Dominic Smith is 22 years old, but doesn’t seem to be ready for the Major Leagues —  Something we’ll find out soon. Peter Alonso is 23, but is clearly as ready as he’ll ever be to make the jump to the Majors. His strong hitting this season is not an aberration either, as he’s a career .301/.391/.550 hitter in the minors since 2016. Every at-bat he takes at the minor league level is a waste of time as it seems time to throw him into the fire.