The future of Mets first baseman Pete Alonso has been a focus of speculation in recent months, given reports that the club discussed a trade with both the Brewers and Cubs ahead of this year’s trade deadline. Of course, later reporting indicated that the Mets didn’t plan to actively shop Alonso this offseason, while new president of baseball operations David Stearns himself threw some cold water on the rumors by indicating during his introductory press conference that he expects Alonso to be the club’s starting first baseman on Opening Day 2024.
A new wrinkle has emerged regarding Alonso’s future plans, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported this morning that Alonso has changed representation ahead of his final offseason under club control, moving from Apex Baseball to Boras Corporation, the agency run by high-profile agent Scott Boras.
The change in representation seems to lessen the odds of the Mets and Alonso coming to an agreement on a contract extension before he hits free agency next offseason, as it’s been relatively rare for high-profile Boras clients to sign extensions the offseason before hitting free agency. The deal between right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. and the Astros prior to the 2021 season and the pact between the Red Sox and shortstop Xander Bogaerts back in 2019 show that proclivity is hardly universal.
What’s more, Heyman notes the recent success the Mets have had in working with Boras, as the sides agreed to $100MM+ deals for veteran ace Max Scherzer and center fielder Brandon Nimmo in free agency the past two offseasons. Nimmo’s case is worth particular consideration, as the former 13th-overall pick made it to free agency last offseason after spending his whole career with the Mets, much as Alonso has, before ultimately re-signing with the club.
More from Queens…
- On the heels of manager Buck Showalter’s recent departure, Mike Puma of the New York Post discusses a major point of contention between Showalter and the front office over the summer: playing time for slugger Daniel Vogelbach. Showalter reportedly wanted to explore other options at DH against right-handed pitching early in the season, including cycling regulars through the position to get them a partial day off, thanks to Vogelbach’s lack of power production: he slashed just .219/.364/.314 over his first 43 games. Showalter met resistance from GM Billy Eppler regarding that desire, however, with Eppler insisting on Vogelbach remaining in the lineup. Vogelbach, 30, is headed into his final season of arbitration eligibility in 2024.
- Though right-hander Adam Ottavino recently indicated that he intends to return to the Mets next year by exercising his $6.75MM player option for the 2024 campaign, the 37-year-old veteran recently spoke with less certainty regarding his impending option decision, telling reporters (including Puma) that while he likes the Mets, he wants to see “how things shake out” in the early offseason before coming to a decision. Ottavino posted a solid season for the club, with a 3.21 ERA and 4.52 FIP in 66 appearances, though that performance was a considerable step back from the 2.06 ERA and 2.85 FIp he posted in 2022.
Mets ain’t gonna win with Eppler in charge.
After hearing that he pushed to keep Vogelbach in the lineup, I have now come to that same conclusion.
He’s no longer in charge. Stearns is and while they have a relationship, Stearns will rule.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Stearns is the prez of BB ops while eppler is the GM the GM makes the trades and FA signings and is more close the manager wheee as the prez is more close the owner and financial desisons. It’s still epplers show
@tangerinepony No offense, but you’re completely clueless and just making stuff up . It’s entirely up to the President of Baseball Operations (ie Stearns) to decide what duties the GM has.
Stearns wouldn’t be taking the job if Eppler was making the talent decisions. It would be ridiculous to do so.
We now know what happened…
Nope
Of course he did as he was stubbornly doubling down on Trading Deadline 2022 Stupid acquiring the platoon DH of Vogelbach and Darin Ruf which blew up not only the Mets choking 2022 but contributed to destroying 2023 as well.
Lol Mets! Steve Cohen fired the wrong man or should have fired both and should have fired them in June when the Season could have been salvaged.
I had no idea either. Thought it was Buck the entire time. Vog shouldn’t be on the team, nonetheless in the lineup.
This is the problem with a lot of coaches taking the fall. Fans think it’s the manager making the same bad decision over and over again, but a lot of times it’s the analytics guys or the GM battling the manager.
But the fans will always throw the manager to the wolves.
Even Buck isn’t this good of an actor. That’s his true feelings on display.
youtube.com/watch?v=ho8SYX9SvX0
It’s like some of those guys are trying to do like Billy in Moneyball.
@Ryand – exactly. The same thing is going to happen to Dusty if the Astros don’t make it out of LDS or ALCS.
Vogelback resembles Babe Ruth physically but hits like Dean Chance
Good thing he isnt in charge anymore *shrug*
He still works there.
@getrealgone2 you just figured that out? I’ve been saying that for 2 years already
They already won with Eppler in charge. Now Stearns is in charge.
Interesting reporting on Daniel Vogelbach. He’s described as a “slugger” with a “lack of power production”. That can’t be good.
Drop the “ger” and that’s more apt.
Vogey has only one skill which is a high OBP because he looks to walk mostly.
The Mets braintrust of analytics Alderson holdovers probably focus on this one attribute while overlooking everything else about this non athletic player such as he can’t hit for average, hit for power, field a position or run the bases. He is a blob that stands like a statue at the plate and draws walks. Not what you need from a DH.
At least Buck who knows baseball knew this while Eppler didn’t. Eppler also didn’t understand that building a BP isn’t all about options. LOL
He has 2 additional skills that you’ve overlooked; he can out eat EVERYONE in the clubhouse, and he is the only MLB player that I’ve ever seen that only moves his body from the waist up when he swings a bat.
Brooklyn62,
Ah yes Vogey is on a Seefood diet and yes his swing sort of reminds me of someone else I have seen Mo Vaughn?
@Robrock30 Well said. Consider this: Eppler was GM for an entire season and is so clueless wrt pitching talent he couldn’t find even ONE reliever worth keeping for 2024.
Eppler had the entire season to comb the waiver wire, 29 teams’ DFAs, minor league free agents, the international arena… and the best he could do was wildly overpay for Trevor Gott, picking up Chris Flexen’s entire salary for the privilege of adding Gott and his 4.65 career ERA for a few months. The Mets bullpen under Eppler is an astounding record of failure after failure. By the end of the year they were reduced to trotting out Gott, Jeff Brigham, Grant Hartwig, Phil Bickford…. This is the kind of pen you’ll find in Detroit or KC.
JackStrawb,
Eppler also let alot of quality pitching leave right under his nose such as Lugo, Bassitt & Walker. He has landed some big fish Senga & Ohtani but he doesn’t understand the nuts and bolts of baseball or building a successful roster. He wastes $ with the best of them.
Spot on! The Mets bullpen was an unmitigated disaster! How many excellent starts from Quintana were thrown away by the bullpen? No wonder Robertson was dealt at the deadline; the bullpen was so bad there wouldn’t be any need for a closer! closer!
@Robrock30 You said it. Those three combined for 525 innings in 2023. Even just Bassitt would have kept the rotation afloat during its worst stretches, and as for Lugo he gave the Pads 145 innings for $7.5m, a veritable steal. Those are innings Eppler preferred to trust to Carrasco, whose 2022 was his only good full season since the end of 2018.
@brooklyn62 Quint deserved much better than he got. Remarkable he was available for 2/26m. He’s a joy to watch pitch—kind of the aesthetic opposite of watching a David Peterson start.
Ya Gotta Believe lol don’t know which deal was worse buying Gott for $ 7 MM including the luxury tax or trading 3 prospects plus JD Davis for Darin Ruff at last year’s trading deadline. Mets do provide comic relief.
Won’t score many runs if you don’t get on base. He runs up pitch counts as well.
Vogey clogs the base paths though once he reaches 1B via a walk and can’t even tag up to score from 3B. He needs a pinch runner.
I’m surprised Buck was willing to listen to the FO. He should have told Eppler to kick rocks.
I’m always curious on how that works. GM tells you that you have to pencil in a certain guy everyday. What if you refuse?
Get fired and if they don’t honor the rest of the deal, a grievance is filed. Was it with cause?
I imagine that sort of arrangement is usually discussed before hiring a manager
I’d like to know what was said at the interview. Did Eppler say “Well Buck, I know you are a multi time MOY with multiple teams but I think I know more than you about managing a team.” How would Buck agree to such nonsense? It’s not like he’s a newbie just trying to get his foot in the door.
That’s like saying no to your boss.
@getrealgone2 Did you happen to watch the movie version of Moneyball? It’s something of a standoff. The relationship immediately sours. The GM has the option of giving you an ultimatum, and can simply fire you. 20 years ago managers had more leverage, but it’s 2023 and they’re seen as much more disposable than formerly.
It would eventually go to the team owner, who would be annoyed that it hadn’t been worked out already. Showalter may have just decided it wasn’t worth it. What was the difference likely to be on that Mets team? A few runs over the course of two months?
This happened in Houston last season, James Click traded Jose Urquody for Wilson Contreras but Dusty and the owner nixed it. Click was not asked back after they won the World Series with Urquidy and Maldonado.
What do you guys want for Pete?
On paper Pete’s worth something like 6/$120m. He’s exactly the kind of guy who craters during the first half of his 30s. Meanwhile Met fans think he’s Ralph Kiner.
JackStrawb,
Great to see you. He’s more of a Dave Kingman type than a Freddie Freeman or Matt Olson who the Braves replaced Freeman with. I knew Dave Kingman when he played for the Mets and I also watched Dave Kingman produce like an MVP for the Cubs while I was there. He will look to get paid especially with Boras the max and they will be trying to pull a Lindor with Cohen’s wallet for sure.
Exactly, my friend. Pete’s a nice player to have, especially on a light-hitting team like the Mets, but he’s much more in the Kingman tier than he is Freeman or Olson or Goldschmidt’s. Pete’s calling card is the HR but he wasn’t even in the NL’s top 10 in SLG in 2023.
I was really hoping he’d be carrying his minor league BA and OBP with him after his rookie year in MLB, but it was not to be. He was the very rare power hitter who got on base and took walks (.290/.380/.560 slash line in the minors), almost in the Jim Thome mold, but he just couldn’t do it. Best,
JackStrawb,
What do you think of the drone strike firing of Buck by Stearns?
Who made the decision to retain Eppler, was it Cohen or Stearns?
The firing seemed without class. Don’t know why Stearns didn’t wait for two more games and the proper end of the season, then a joint presser and questions for Buck.
A couple of months back, Cohen said Eppler would be staying on. Presumably that was part of his deal with Eppler in order to persaude Eppler to fake being the GM while Cohen was the actual GM on all important matters.
I doubt it matters much, though. Stearns isn’t going to give Eppler any assignments involving talent evaluation, but Eppler has been a FO guy for a long time, so having him around to handle MLB’s complex paperwork isn’t the worst thing. In the right spot Eppler’s not bad at all to have around. To get the lay of the land on any Japanese FAs, to deal with subordinates. Just don’t let him do what he’s clearly unqualifed to do.
December 2024Texas Rangers sign Pete Alonso to a 8 year 175M contract (just above the deal Matt Olson signed with the Braves)
Ryan Clifford takes over at 1B for the Mets in 2025.
Or Mark Vientos.
Even if your right, he is better than any other options at this time!
Was wondering this myself for the M’s. Alonso is such a d-bag though, I’ve got mixed emotions.
Buck may have been fired but he gets an extra W as a going-away gift. The Mets have been declared winners of last week’s suspended game that didn’t have to be resumed. MLB made the decision on Tuesday.
Did MLB decide or did the Marlins forfeit?
Score reverted to the last full inning per the rulebook. Mets 1, Miami 0 (8 innings, rain).
Alonso in Chicago in 2025. Just a random guess based on very little.
Sox or Cubs?
Unless the Cubs re-sign Bellinger, what would the point in trading for Alonzo be?
The Cubs need two middle of the order bats, having one guy and a lot of 2 and 6 type hitters didn’t workout last season for the Cubs offense.
Of course, Alonzo and Bellinger do not make a lot of sense due to the speculation PCA will eventually take over center next year.
Interesting times in Chicago for sure, they need a first and third baseman and they need to keep DH open for Morel/Canario since Happ and Suzuki are unlikely to go anywhere.
Heyman notes the recent success the Mets have had in working with Boras, as the sides agreed to $100MM+
==================================
LOL! That’s not success. That’s buying a player. Success is more like when Atlanta extends kids at reasonable prices. What you’re discussing with Boras is simply out-paying everyone else. I could’ve paid Scherzer $1B to play for my softball team. Would that be because I’ve had good success with Boras?
“reasonable prices” is a very subjective term. I don’t think Acuña and Albies are signed to reasonable deals; they’re vastly underpaid.
They were reasonable at the time they were signed, maybe not Albies. His seemed under market from the start
If I were the Mets, I wouldn’t be looking hard to extend Alonso. he will be 30 to start the season in 2025. How many prime years are you buying at that point? Two? Maybe three?
Exactly. Alonso’s bat speed slows by 2% and he’s turning out 115 OPS+ seasons that are worth almost nothing because he’s either one of the worst 1Bmen in the NL or he’s your full time DH.
There is alot of smoke around Alonso lately. Mets have a problem. New agent, not liking the Buck Showalter firing, talk of him wanting to be on the Cubs. When he becomes a FA at the end of 2024 he gets to choose where he plays. A little urgency. Overpay is on the Table now with Boras.
And people on here didn’t believe me a few days ago when I said they might trade him.
“Stearns said they wouldn’t trade Alonso,” they said.
He never said any such thing.
Generally I would agree but his body type and mechanics typically points to longevity. Im not saying he will be hitting 40+ for the next 7 seasons but I would bet my bottom dollar that he hits 30+ the next 6 of 7 seasons.
@DugoutJester I will be happy to bet as much money as you like. Unlimited sums.
Serious question: Who are the 3 players you think Pete most resembles? I’m genuinely curious, because even much more valuable players are routinely out of the game by age 35, whereas you’re saying he’ll hold 80-90% of his value. I doubt there are 3 players in this history of the game who are very close in value to Pete, and who nonetheless retained that much value.
1. Pete Alonso’s hitting mechanics exhibit excellent balance and stability, reducing the risk of injury during swings.
2. He maintains a compact swing, minimizing excess strain on his wrists and elbows, which can lead to long-lasting health.
3. Alonso’s lower body mechanics, including his strong and stable base, provide a solid foundation for generating power without excessive stress on his hips and knees.
4. He consistently demonstrates proper weight transfer from his back leg to his front leg, decreasing the likelihood of lower body injuries.
5. Alonso’s bat speed is exceptional, allowing him to make consistent contact with the ball without needing to compensate with abnormal movements that could cause injury.
6. His grip and hand position on the bat are sound, reducing the potential for hand and finger injuries while maintaining control and generating power.
7. Alonso’s swing path is efficient and direct, minimizing unnecessary rotational forces that could strain his spine or upper body.
8. He demonstrates an excellent ability to adjust to different pitch locations and speeds, allowing him to avoid being caught off balance and potentially injured.
9. Alonso consistently keeps his head still and eyes focused on the ball, reducing the risk of neck and head injuries.
10. His overall body posture during swings promotes a healthy spine alignment, reducing the risk of long-term back injuries.
11. Alonso’s ability to maintain consistency in his swing mechanics helps prevent overcompensation and the resulting muscle imbalances that can lead to chronic injuries.
12. He utilizes proper hip rotation in his swing, transferring kinetic energy effectively and avoiding unnecessary stress on his lower back.
13. Alonso’s swing mechanics allow for sufficient extension through the ball, decreasing the chances of wrist injuries caused by premature deceleration.
14. He demonstrates good timing and rhythm in his swing, avoiding rushed or awkward movements that could lead to musculoskeletal injuries.
15. Alonso’s upper body mechanics, including his shoulder and arm positioning, promote fluid and efficient movement while reducing the risk of strain or overuse injuries.
16. He maintains a relaxed and controlled grip on the bat, minimizing tension in his hands, wrists, and forearms that could lead to chronic conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
17. Alonso’s swing mechanics allow for quick adjustments mid-swing, decreasing the likelihood of being fooled by off-speed pitches and potentially injuring himself.
18. His overall approach at the plate emphasizes patience and discipline, reducing the chances of lunging or reaching for pitches and risking injury.
19. Alonso’s consistent use of proper head and eye positioning enables him to track the ball effectively, reducing the risk of getting hit by pitches and sustaining facial injuries.
20. He shows excellent awareness of his body and its limitations, avoiding reckless swings or movements that could result in sudden injuries.
21. Alonso’s ability to generate power without excessive upper body tension minimizes the risk of muscle strains or tears.
22. His swing mechanics promote an efficient transfer of energy from his core to his arms, reducing the strain on his shoulder joints and minimizing the risk of rotator cuff injuries.
23. Alonso’s hitting mechanics emphasize a balanced load and controlled weight shift, contributing to stability and reducing the chances of ankle or knee injuries.
24. He consistently uses his lower body to initiate his swing, reducing reliance on his upper body and decreasing the risk of overextension or shoulder injuries.
25. Alonso’s consistent and repeatable swing mechanics allow for long-term consistency and reduce the chances of drastic changes that could lead to injury.
I like Alonso. He’s a competitor and comes to win every day. Citi Field plays large, but Pete has no difficulty hitting long balls there. He’d be a killer in one of the bandboxes (imagine him in Cincinnati – of course they can’t afford him).
But we all know that Boras will want more than 5 years for his next contract. Pete is not a good fielder (he often hurts the team playing 1B), and Pete doesn’t exactly have the athletic body to hold up through his 30’s – think muscle-bound position players such as Giancarlo Stanton, Starling Marte, and Tyler O’Neill. This has all the earmarks of contracts given to Bobby Bonilla, Stanton, A-Rod, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, Marcell Ozuna….and he’s going to get far more money than any of them.
No one can tell by the “look” of a guy that they will “fall off” or have success. Granted there are red flags, guys like Baez who strike out a ton, have an Uber aggressive swing and don’t walk, but look at Heyward, the guys body is built for baseball and leverage for swings. Yet, he completely fell off at 28 years old.
I don’t watch a lot of Alonzo but from what little I have seen, he seems like a guy who will age fine. E doesn’t strike out a ton, doesn’t have a super long complicated swing, walks and thicker bodies seem to hold up well enough for baseball players.
For all we know, the Mets have been negotiating with Alonso’s team to no avail hence the switch to Boras Corp. Did you say the same about David Ortiz?
Do you really think he switched to Boras to get an extension done? To me this sounds like he went to Boras to drive the price up during his free agency.
No, he switched when his former reps couldn’t get it one done.
Boras tells all his players to opt to free agency but it’s always reliant of the player to listen or not.
However, with rumors about Alonzo wanting a trade to the Cubs, he could have switched to Boras, use his reputation of going to free agency, to leverage a trade.
Holderman trade looks better every day for the Pirates.
I think Alonso getting Boras as a agent means adios Mets.
Well, Nimmo got Boras and they got a deal done.
My wildarse guess is that Alonso is asking for something ridiculous, like $200m+ if not $250m, so the Mets are willing to let him go to free agency and if no one has lost their minds (Colorado, say) and they can match something like 5/130m, they’ll do it. If he gets offered, say, 6/180m from Detroit, they’ll be fine letting him walk.
I sure hope so as a long time Mets fan.
Hits bad teams and bad pitchers; let him go to the cubs
I’m amazed that Eppler would deign to order Showalter to keep Vogelbach in the lineup. And I’m surprised Buck didn’t tell Billy to piss up a rope.
In a perfect world, Arte Moreno and Steve Cohen would realize they have no effing clue what they’re doing, then join forces and combine rosters and resources. They can call themselves the Mangles.
nukeg;
Peter Seidler as well….although I do think Cohen will acquiesce to David Stearns on this stuff.
I’m not sure the comparison with Moreno and Cohen is a good one, at least yet. Moreno took a well-constructed, well-run, and successful organization and slowly ground it into a laughing stock. Cohen took over a horribly run laughing stock and has made a little bit of progress towards respectability (100 wins for the first time in 35 years in 2022; good farm system built up). We’ll see over the next few years but I think it’s premature to compare the two owners.
Vogelbach was virtually unplayable for all but maybe 40 or 50 games this season and should never have been on the roster after August 1st, let alone forced to be in the lineup. Worse yet it was Stearns that brought him to Milwaukee so there is every reason to believe he’ll be back with the Mets next season
God, I hope not
@Rsox Right? WTH was that?? Surely they weren’t thinking about bringing Vogelback back in 2024, and in any case beginning on August 1 they needed DH PAs for whichever of Vientos or Baty or Mauricio weren’t playing the infield. Or to give Alvarez most of a week off from playing the field when he was clearly spent.
Or how about this? Baty looked awful at 3B. Wouldn’t it have been nice to give him 2 straight months as the primary DH and see if with only that to focus on he could get it done? But since they didn’t do that, they have no idea, really, whether he can hit in MLB.
Mets fans. How would you feel about….
Alonso and prospects to Toronto for Vladimir Guerrero Jr?
As a Jays fan and watching him the last 2 years basically not care about winning, I’d be willing to do this trade ONLY if Alonso comes with a 5-7 year extension
Wait, the Mets have to give Toronto prospects in this deal and it only happens if Alonso comes with an extension? So 5-7 years of Alonso, plus prospects, for 2-3 years of Vladimir Guerrero, who seems to have a lazy attitude and poor baseball IQ? Whose power and general hitting have fallen off the last two years? Alonso is a better hitter and fielder and in your scenario comes with more (albeit expensive) control. Pretty sure Toronto would need to be sending prospects in this deal.
Has anyone ever done the research to see if Boras clients really are less likely to sign extensions than players represented by other agencies? I wonder if this is a false narrative created by the animosity towards Boras.
@gbs42 Solid point. If there’s a credible study, it isn’t easy to find. though CBS Sports has an article that touches on the subject, “Mets’ Pete Alonso hires Scott Boras as agent with free agency looming, New York future uncertain, per report.”
Boras had a history with telling his guys to go to free agency, sure, but he also:
1.) typically represents the most elite/notable players
Case in point, 4 of the top 5 free agents are represented by Boras co.
2.) a lot of player change to Boras right before they reach free agency.
I think one could speculate that Boras’s reputation for being a hard negotiator goes against him when it relates to arbitration but works in his favor for free agents.
Let Alonso go to the Cubs for some players. He puts up big numbers against bad teams and pitching.
Look at his breakdown against the:
Braves
Phillies
Brewers
Dodgers
5 total home runs and about a 0.150 batting average.
Take a hike Polar Beer; not paying Boras money for you!
The Mets might be the only team where it really doesn’t matter about the money. The key problem is AA is the GM of the Braves, and they have stars at every position and most of them are signed to good contracts. How do you beat them, you have to sign the right players and make the right trades. Stearns has a lot of work to do. Right now they are 5 players short, 6 if they lose Alonzo!
Just over 35% of Boras clients have signed an extension. So, it’s not exactly rare for them to do so. In fact, it’s about the same as MLB as a whole. Thanks for spreading popular disinformation.
The only thing it means is that Alonso is not likely to take anything less than market value in an extension. Boras is the best at getting absolute top dollar for his clients.
Vogelbach has a 113 wRC+ and 104 OPS+ on the season. A 129 wRC+ and 122 OPS+ in the 2nd half. Who on the Mets is Puma trying to say that would have done better? Looks like Eppler was right.
If the DH was the reason for any enmity between Eppler and Buck, then Buck is in the wrong here.
Good thing Eppler is out.
Smart of Alonzo. reminder to NYM fans – no Wilpons. If he wants to stay and Stearns wants him to stay, smart wager is he stays
Rumors are swirling around that Pete Alonso would like to play for the Cubs. I’m taking it with a grain of salt til the stove is hot on the situation