By accepting a two-year deal that included a participant opt-out after the 2025 marketing campaign, returning New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso put himself in a contract season for the second straight 12 months.
Mets proprietor Steve Cohen lately spoke with Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports activities about how Alonso will deal with the stress of dealing with one other “show it” season.
“If he performs nicely, good for him, proper? I imply, how unbelievable is that,” Cohen defined. “He simply needs to be Pete. Go do his factor. Hopefully, he is extra relaxed. Not saying he wasn’t relaxed. However hopefully, he can go give attention to what he does, which is baseball, and benefit from the season together with his teammates. Let’s go win one thing.”
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor warned forward of the 2024 season {that a} participant who might not “carry out [well] desirous about numbers” ought to “try to get [a deal] carried out within the offseason.” After Alonso reportedly rejected a seven-year, $158M contract extension provided by the Mets in the course of the 2023 marketing campaign, he entered final spring with out a multiyear deal. Then he endured slumps that resulted in his residence runs, RBI and OPS numbers dipping from the earlier season.
Mike Puma of the New York Put up famous that Cohen flew to Tampa this previous Tuesday for a gathering that included Alonso, agent Scott Boras and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns.
“I actually needed to humanize the negotiations,” Cohen advised Jon Heyman of the New York Put up. “I needed him to listen to it straight from me — two human beings having an actual dialog.”
That dialog resulted in Alonso accepting far much less cash than he envisioned at first of 2024. It additionally proved that Cohen was proper to belief Stearns concerning a course of that seemingly concerned the Mets bidding in opposition to themselves to win Alonso’s signature.
“That is why I employed him,” Cohen mentioned about Stearns. “He is excellent at what he does. He is very affected person and disciplined and considerate and that is the sort of factor you begin to see paying dividends over time. We’re seeing it.”
Whether or not or not Alonso is with the Mets subsequent winter or turns into the franchise’s all-time chief in residence runs by October shall be seen. For now, the “preserve Pete” portion of the fan base is comfortable that the “Polar Bear” is on monitor to function lineup safety for All-Star outfielder Juan Soto on Opening Day.
