Pete Alonso, the top free-agent first baseman available this offseason, has signed an agreement to remain with the New York Mets, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
It’s a two-year deal for Alonso that is worth $54 million guaranteed, per Passan. He will earn $30 million in the first year and the agreement includes an opt-out after that first season. The opt-out means that Alonso will have to determine whether he wants to return for the 2026 season on a $24 million deal or re-enter the free-agent market for a second straight offseason.
Alonso, 29, has spent his entire career with the Mets. He made four All-Star Games in six seasons and won a pair of Home Run Derbies.
Overall, Alonso has hit .249/.339/.514 (134 OPS+) with 226 home runs and 586 runs batted in. His contributions were worth an estimated 19.8 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations. This past season, Alonso’s outputs slipped below career norms, as he put up an OPS+ of 123 for a second straight season.
CBS Sports recently ranked Alonso as the winter’s 11th-best free agent. Here’s what we wrote:
Remember, these rankings are assembled using expected annual average value as a guidepost — meaning that players with profiles oftentimes disregarded by front offices will be placed lower than you might’ve expected to find them based on their talent alone. Alonso is an affable slugger who has never failed to homer 30-plus times over a full season. Alas, he’s also a righty-hitting first baseman nearing his 30th birthday. Teams have shown they’ll make exceptions for generational talents, an Albert Pujols or a Miguel Cabrera, but Alonso falls short of that measuring stick. It won’t help his case that he’s seen his strikeout rate increase two years running, even while (oddly enough) posting the best in-zone contact rate of his career. Our guess is that the best-case scenario here is landing the Paul Goldschmidt deal plus inflation.
Only one free-agent first baseman has received more than three years in the past five offseasons: Freddie Freeman with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
That trend continues in light of Alonso’s deal.
Alonso joins Juan Soto in loaded Mets lineup
As noted above, there are some reddish flags in Alonso’s profile, and such concerns were no doubt reflected by what’s a surprisingly modest contract for a decorated slugger who’s still not 30 years of age.
Looking forward, Alonso returns to a Mets lineup that now includes an elite offensive force in Juan Soto, who earlier this offseason inked a record $765 million free-agent contract with New York. Perhaps manager Carlos Mendoza will bump Alonso up from his usual cleanup spot to bat third behind Soto in the two hole. Doing so would give the Mets a potent lefty-righty power threat near the top of the lineup. It’s not Soto-Aaron Judge, which the crosstown Yankees enjoyed last season, but it’s still something of a nightmare for opposing pitchers.
Elsewhere, Alonso’s return to first base presumably means that the defensively limited Mark Vientos will remain at third base instead of shifting across the diamond.
Despite protracted negotiations and what from Alonso’s standpoint has to be a disappointing market, both sides will no doubt be pleased that the fan-favorite slugger is back in Queens for at least another season. Speaking of which, Alonso will enter the upcoming season in third place on the Mets’ all-time franchise home run list with 226. He trails just Darryl Strawberry (252) and David Wright (242), so as long as Alonso stays healthy this year he should make a strong push to set the Mets’ homer record.
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