Former New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso has been perhaps the greatest bust of the current free agent signing season. The one-time MLB home run champ and National League Rookie of the Year entered the offseason seeking a payday in the $200 million range. The sports business site Spotrac estimated his market value at $174 million over a six-year deal.
But Alonso appears not to have received any offers close to those hoped-for deals. The best his former club could do, according to a report by the Mets cable television outlet SNY, was a three-year, $70 million offer that would pay Alonso a portion of that money on a deferred basis. Alonso reportedly declined.
The Toronto Blue Jays have also been looking to sign Alonso, but are unlikely to match what the Mets have offered, according to SNY baseball reporter Andy Martino.
The lack of interest in his services, or at least in paying nine figures for his services, must have come as a shock to Alonso, who early in his career has been one of the most prolific home run hitters in MLB history. His total of 226 round-trippers over the first six seasons of his career place him third on the all-time list.
Only Ralph Kiner with 257 and Albert Pujols at 250 hit more homers in their first six seasons — and each needed significantly more at-bats to do it. Kiner took 3,249 at-bats to collect those 257 home runs, Pujols needed 3,489 to reach his total. Alonso hit his 226 in 3,139 at-bats.
A new report by Jon Heyman of the New York Post saying "Alonso desperately hopes to return" to the Mets has prompted New York radio commentator Evan Roberts of WFAN to predict that Alonso will, in the end, sign a deal with the Mets — and then fire his agent, Scott Boras.
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"Pete Alonso said to Scott, 'I want to go home, and you better make it happen,' and now Scott is trying the last tiny pit of power he has to say 'We've given you everything, Mets, now seal the deal,'" Roberts said on Wednesday. "Alonso will soon sign a contract, and soon after... Scott Boras is going to get fired. He's going to get fired because he's failed Pete Alonso."
Roberts' prediction came on the same day as a report by Ben Nicholson-Smith of the Canadian TV network SportsNet that appeared to at least partly contradict Roberts' prediction.
"MLB agents have recently been informed they cannot contact Pete Alonso," Nicholson-Smith reported. "This would have to be initiated by Alonso himself. Evidently, Alonso wants to continue working with his agent Scott Boras without hearing from other agents looking to poach him."
What the Canadian baseball insider did not say, however, is whether Alonso wants to continue on with Boras once his current free agent process is over, or whether the slugger simply believes it would not benefit him to switch representation in the middle of ongoing negotiations.
Nicholson-Smith's report also leaves the door open for Alonso to initiate contact with other agents besides Boras.
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