Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns was asked in an interview with Foul Territory when the team plans to resign first baseman Pete Alonso, who will be a free agent after the season.

“Let’s set it up for tomorrow,” Stearns quipped. “Can you broker the deal?”

Alonso hit .217/.318/.504 with 46 home runs and 118 RBI last season. He has 192 career home runs in his five-year career.

Pete Alonso. Photo by Roberto Carlo

On Alonso

“Pete’s a really good player,” Stearns continued. “He’s performed on a big stage here for a long time. I know that. We all know that. I know how important he is to our fan base. I think where we are right now, where Pete is, is we are going to focus on this year. The best thing for us is for Pete to have a great year and the best thing for Pete is for Pete to have a great year. And then we will go forward from there.

“We are certainly invested in trying to keep Pete a Met, and I’m hopeful that over time we will be able to work that out.”

On the DH Role

Stearns was asked about balancing this year vs. next when it comes to signing a veteran designated hitter. Reports emerged Tuesday the Mets and J.D. Martinez were in talks. Heading into the season, Mark Vientos looks to be the everyday DH.

“Look, these are conversations that we are constantly having internally, trying to figure out exactly what the right balance there is. I am a firm believer philosophically that we have to let young players play. That we have to allow young players to experience success and setbacks at the major league level. That’s how we learn. That’s how we get better. So we have to provide room on our roster for that to happen.”

On Yamamoto

Stearns also discussed the team’s pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who signed with the Dodgers for 12 years and $325 million. The Dodgers also paid a $51 million posting fee to Yamamoto’s Japanese team.

“We gave it our best shot,” Stearns said. “I think as an organization we did pretty much everything we could. I thought it was a good process, a fair process and ultimately the player chose to go to L.A., which we respect. But we are going to go through these types of pursuits in the future and there’s going to be times where we land the player, and that will certainly be exciting for us.”