The lines in the sand are being drawn. And the Pete Alonso contract talks are not shaping up to be a day at the beach.
Pete Alonso, entering the final year of his arbitration eligibility before reaching free agency following the conclusion of the 2024 season, retained the services of agent Scott Boras in October to negotiate his new contract.
Mets fans may be hoping that Alonso, 29, is willing to offer a discount to the organization that originally drafted him in 2016 as a second round pick from the University of Florida and whom he has excelled with the last five seasons in Queens.
Photo by Roberto Carlo
But Boras is not a sentimental type of guy.
Speaking for the first time publicly about Pete Alonso and his contractual situation while appearing Monday on The Show, a baseball podcast hosted by Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of The New York Post, Boras dismissed contracts recently signed by other All-Star first baseman as meaningful comps: Freddie Freeman (six-years, $162 million with the Dodgers) and Paul Goldschmidt (five-years, $130 million with the Cardinals).
“I got Mark Teixeira a contract… for $180 million in 2007 (and) I got Prince Fielder a contract at $214 million in 2011,’’ Boras said on Monday’s podcast. “There are different dynamics you look at.”
Boras referred specifically to baseball’s significant financial growth since he negotiated the Teixeira and Fielder contracts.
“The revenue system of the game has dramatically changed over the last few years,’’ Boras said. “I don’t think the (Freeman and Goldschmidt) contracts are really relevant to anything that has to do with what’s going to happen in the future, particularly with Pete Alonso.”
Two overarching selling points that underscore Alonso’s financial value, according to Boras, are his “power quotient” (at least 37 home runs since his rookie season in 2019, excluding the COVID season of 2020), and his durability (he has never missed more than 10 games in a season).
Boras, who negotiated a contract on behalf of Brandon Nimmo with the Mets last offseason during the free agent signing period, did not rule out agreeing to terms prior to when Alonso’s current contract expires.
“We welcome all offers,’’ Boras said. “We certainly present them [and] discuss them with the players we represent and we really try to have as open a dialogue as we can and also have an exchange of information, because … even if you don’t get a deal done, it helps the parties understand one another. So we invite negotiations, we invite discussions [and] we invite offers.’’
Boras also represents Juan Soto, another sub-30-year-old All-Star scheduled to enter free agency flowing the 2024 season. Does Boras think that Alonso and/or Soto could be traded this offseason?
“I think it’s hard to say for a franchise, that if you want to win, you trade these players,” Boras said. “I just think it’s a very difficult thing for ownership and baseball operations to explain.’’
What’s not difficult to explain is that Mets fans want Alonso long-term. But will Boras and Mets owner Steve Cohen ultimately reach an agreement, or are there stormy waves ahead?
