The Mets are preparing to select the contract of first base prospect Pete Alonso, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (via Twitter). He’ll make the Opening Day roster — a possibility that grew throughout camp and that Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweeted recently was slated to take place.
Alonso’s path to the roster was cleared by injuries to Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie, but he may have forced his way up regardless. The 24-year-old has slugged his way up the prospect charts in recent years, drawing top-50 consensus rankings from prospect hounds after the 2018 season. He continued to drive the ball this spring, turning in a .368/.394/.647 slash with four home runs in 71 plate appearances against Grapefruit League pitching.
When it comes to prospect promotions, service time is always a major consideration. Even those players who are deemed ready for the big leagues and necessary for the roster may beheld down briefly to ensure they do not secure a full season of MLB service. Those considerations were no doubt part of the equation when Alonso failed to receive a September call-up last year.
In this case, though, there’s arguably not much reason for the Mets to stay their hand. First and foremost, Alonso is a 24-year-old first baseman who has played a full year in the upper minors — not, say, a 20-year-old shortstop who’s considered one of the very best prospects in baseball. Even if Alonso is never sent back down, the club will control him throughout his twenties.
Alonso’s age-30 season could well be a valuable one, but it’s not nearly so precious as the extra season might be for some other top prospects. That’s particularly true since hitter’s aging curves are hewing younger and toward a consistent downward trajectory. Alonso is a player whose value is expected to come more or less exclusively from his bat, so it’s all the more sensible to go ahead and bring him up. And if he doesn’t produce from the outset, or the roster situation otherwise demands it, the club can always shuttle him back to Triple-A and gain back that added year of control.
It’ll certainly be fun to see Alonso take the field alongside the many other new faces in New York and the rest of the NL East. The division promises to be a battle all year long. His ability to thrive out of the gates could have a meaningful impact for a club that doesn’t know whether or when it’ll see Yoenis Cespedes in its lineup.
Since he was drafted in the second round in 2016, Alonso has steadily produced in just over a thousand plate appearances of professional action. He’s a .290/.381/.560 hitter in the minors, with 59 total home runs (including 36 in the 2018 season) and 114 walks to go with 221 strikeouts. That’s a rather well-rounded profile, though power remains the calling card.
Defense and baserunning will likely never be strong suits, but the hope is that Alonso will hit enough that those factors will largely fade to the background. There aren’t really any major concerns with the bat, but his track record isn’t flawless. Even as he reached new power heights last year at Triple-A, Alonso’s strikeout rate popped up to 25.9%. He still managed a double-digit walk rate at the highest level of the minors, but the on-base outlook still comes with some uncertainty. Alonso will need to maintain a high batting average (as he did until ascending to Triple-A) or boost his walk rate to be a truly outstanding offensive producer.
Good for him!
Damn straight!
The Mets are operating like a fully functional baseball team! Let’s see if they can continue to do so once their are actual games.
Mikeyank must be having a mental breakdown
Mikeyank is carefully yanking while thinking of some comment to include Mutt and Jeff or Wagon Wheel. Those are his money shots
Awesome now hopefully he’ll be in the lineup every night
Quick! Sign him to an extension before he hits free agency!
As a Pirates fan, I am going to regret games July 26-28. if this guy puts in the work to be an offensive weapon, NL East winners hands down. The lineup is already good, but if this youngster hits at MLB level, that lineup just got better.
Yeah, I’m not so sure about them being “hands down” division winners with a slugging Alonso and their current roster. NL East may be most competitive division this season, and even so, I still wouldn’t consider the Mets a true contender.
The entire NL should be a fun race this year. You can probably argue the only teams that aren’t trying to win are the Marlins and possibly the Dbacks or Giants.
I DO, P.S CESPEDES WILL BE BACK IN ABOUT 5-6 WEEKS
You may want to keep this post handy. You’ll need it every other week.
N.L central is. There isn’t a team in tank mode, yet. Pirates will be selling off here soon enough. Reds are retooling and will be trying to pick up young unproven pitching with their players, Puig, Wood, Kemp, Gennet, Iglesias etc..
Good article. Thanks for the insight.
Congrats to the kid
This and the deGrom extension seem so unMet.
I don’t see the delayed promotions being much of an issue going forward. Teams are obviously being proactive in signing their proven players to extensions before they lose control over them. And players also seem less reluctant to explore free agency. If Alonso lives up to the hype, he and the Mets will likely reach a long term deal long before they lose control over him.
Power hitting 1B get expensive in arbitration. It’s difficult for me to justify ever giving up a year for two weeks. This is about as close as it gets. Calling him up now suppresses his salary since he only goes through arbitration 3 times v 4. Like I said those types of guys typically get more than they would on the open market. IE Khris Davis right now. He’s also 24 not 20 like a guy like Tatis. He doesn’t have the athletic ability of a guy like Paul Goldschmidt so I don’t think you’ll be seeing that. I think this move is a bit more justifiable then keeping a guy like Tatis up.
I definitely would’ve kept him down for the 2 weeks since Smith played very well this spring as well but Alonso did absolutely tear the baseball up. And like I said his type of skill set tends to get very expensive in arbitration and traditionally power hitters without great hit tools don’t age well into their 30’s. And the Mets don’t have the luxury of a DH (not yet anyway.)
Good luck Pete! We’re pulling for you.
Let’s go Mets!
I DO, P.S CESPEDES WILL BE BACK IN ABOUT 5-6 WEEKS