New York Mets power-hitting first baseman Pete Alonso entered free agency with high expectations as one of baseball's most prolific power hitters. His career home run percentage of 7.12 (the percentage of at-bats resulting in a homer) would place him among the all-time greats. In fact, it would tie him for sixth place all-time with Giancarlo Stanton if Alonso had played the 1,000 Major League games required to qualify for the leaderboard.
But, with the end of the 2024 calendar year less than a week away and spring training set to open in just over six weeks, Alonso has not yet found a team willing to pay him the $150 million-plus contract he is reported to be seeking. Some projections even set his value as high as $300 million.
Spotrac projects his market value at $174 million over six years.
According to a former major league player who is now a commentator, however, Alonso has received an offer as of Thursday and it is a surprisingly low one, at least in terms of years offered and total cash outlay.
Carlos Baerga, who played 14 seasons in the Major Leagues from 1990 through 2005 (though he did not play in the 2000 season) and is now a Spanish Language radio broadcaster for the Cleveland Guardians, said on his X/Twitter account that the Mets have offered Alonso just three years at a total payout of $90 million.
The offer, according to Baerga, includes opt-out clauses after each year, meaning the Mets are not willing to fully commit to Alonso for more than one year. Though the $30 million annual average value of the reported contract slightly exceeds the $29 million projected by Spotrac, the contract would provide Alonso no long-term security.
Baerga's report as of Friday morning remained unconfirmed, though the former big leaguer has a track record of at least some accurate reports on free agent signings in the past.
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