On Sunday evening, the Texas Rangers agreed to a deal that would send starting first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to the Washington Nationals in exchange for left-handed reliever Robert Garcia. This opens up quite a massive hole at first base for the Rangers, who are still likely to try to win in 2025.
There's one top free agent first baseman left unsigned: New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso.
Alonso's market was once seen as a bit competitive with a few teams reportedly negotiating with him. But most of those teams have seemingly eliminated themselves from the race. The New York Yankees signed first baseman Paul Goldschmidt while the Houston Astros signed Christian Walker. The Nationals just swiped Lowe from the Rangers.
This opens the door for the Rangers to swoop in as a dark horse suitor in the Alonso sweepstakes.
The Rangers just opened a massive hole at first base and, as stated before, they're trying to win in 2025.
Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom, and Marcus Semien are the only Rangers making over $20 million in 2025, so the front office likely has room to pony up some cash if Alonso is on the radar. Adding him would work wonders for putting the team back in the World Series after a disappointing 2024 season.
With all this in mind, I still believe the Mets should be seen as the heavy favorites to sign the slugging first baseman. New York has as big a hole at first base as any team and owner Steve Cohen will likely put the money up to bring him back. Jon Heyman of the New York Post predicts Alonso to sign for $152 million.
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