Pete Alonso has officially opted out of his contract with the Mets, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He declines a $24MM player option and heads back to free agency.
Alonso announced that he’d be doing this as soon as the season ended. There was never much intrigue anyhow. Last offseason’s two-year pillow deal was always designed to get him back to the market this winter. He collected $30MM for the first season — a $10MM signing bonus and $20MM salary — and now takes another shot at finding the long-term deal that didn’t materialize last winter.
The five-time All-Star should be better positioned this time around. He’s coming off a .272/.347/.524 showing with 38 home runs and an NL-leading 41 doubles across 709 plate appearances. Alonso’s 2024 had been a relative down season by his standards, as he’d hit .240/.329/.459 with 34 round-trippers. Last winter also saw his market dragged down by the qualifying offer. That’s not on the table this time. The collective bargaining agreement prevents a player from receiving more than one QO in his career.
Alonso will slot behind Kyle Schwarber and probably NPB superstar Munetaka Murakami as the best power bats in the class. He’s atop the list of free agent first basemen, which also includes Josh Naylor, Ryan O’Hearn, Luis Arraez, Josh Bell, Paul Goldschmidt and Rhys Hoskins. There’ll be teams that prefer Murakami as a first baseman rather than at third base, which has been his primary home with the Yakult Swallows in Japan. Another NBP corner infielder, Kazuma Okamoto, is also coming over via the posting system.
Alonso’s opt-out is one of three resolved option decisions for the Mets so far. Edwin Díaz is also opting out, while A.J. Minter exercised his $11MM player option as he works back from lat surgery. They’re still awaiting official word from Frankie Montas, but he’s obviously going to lock in his $17MM player option after undergoing elbow surgery in August. The Mets could simply release Montas at that point to open a roster spot, but there’s no escaping the money. The team still has to decide on options for Brooks Raley ($4.75MM or a $350K buyout) and Drew Smith ($2MM).
Reports are, Dodgers have a better first-base-man.
Reports are the Dodgers have a MVP DH too.
I can not independently confirm however.
@O’sSayCanYouSee
MLB needs to make a new rule so that we have extra DH’s on the team. This will help improve offense as well.
O’sSayCanYouSee
Dodgers first baseman and DH are currently signed and on a parade bus. Confirmed.
Honest question here – where would the Dodgers play him? They have Freeman at first and Ohtani at DH.
They won’t even look at him. That’s what this guy comments on everything.
Thanks. New here, so lesson learned.
Obviously you dump Ohtani and that albatross of a contract.
Sorry if you don’t understand sarcasm
TJECK109: More accurately irony.
As if they cut Freeman/Ohtani for him, horrible take
It’s hard to see him going anywhere else, but I could see a team like Boston making a run at him. He could put some good dents in the monster.
Red Sox don’t need him. 1st and DH slots are both filled
Whether or not the Sox are actually interested expect Boras to engage them, The Yankees, the Angels and any other big money team he can to drive the price up. Problem is Alonso can’t run around telling everyone he only wants to play for the Mets this time
When you say the Sox have 1st filled, do you mean with Casas? I don’t have complete faith that Casas is the answer and have a feeling it is going to take him quite a bit of time to find his swing even if he is healthy. It all depends on the length of the contract that it takes to get Alonso. He certainly would give the Sox the big bat they needed.
I’m not sold on Casas either but i don’t think we’ve seen enough of him to pull the plug either. However, if he was to be traded for a TOR starter than i wouldn’t be upset either
Hey Pedro, let me clarify what I am thinking, and this is just my opinion.
I think ‘FIlled’ was a poor choice of word. I think ;Unsettled’ is better.
Casas is the big unknown, right? He has had 2 freak injuries in a row, yes, but that doesn’t really settle the potential question. Hamper it? Yes. But he is still young enough to have big potential.
Now the back up plan until that is known falls into 2 most likely ideas: Stay inhouse with Lowe/Ref or Buy Big.
Sox were just barely over the tax threshold. We all know Henry is grinding his teeth over that. So do we believe he is going to open the wallet for a Thumper when he saw his team make it to the playoffs on a budget?
I doubt it. He has been trying all along to convince us that they don’t need to spend big, they just need to spend wisely.
He is not going to flush the progress on that campaign for a big bat.
I expect the Sox will focus on a number starter. Now they will sign a broken down #4 and tell us that it’s second coming of Pedro, but we already know that.
So they’ll resign Ref and take Lowe to arb (or work out a 2 year at a lower rate.
Just my opinion, here.
Rsox, Casas has less trade value right now than Yoshi. For good or bad we’re stuck with him. But he is cheap, and like you said, he’s future is still unknown.
DB-I think you may be right about going with Lowe unless they don’t sign Bregman. If they don’t sign Bregman, they will likely invest in a bat. The cost and length of the contract will be the deciding factor. If they resign Bregman, that will be the big investment for the offense.
I will be very disappointed if they don’t trade for a real #2 pitcher. We have seen far too many reclamation disasters.
DBH – I agree with you, in that, Casas isn’t going anywhere unless a team specifically asks for him in a trade package, because his value isn’t what it should be. Im willing to give him a great chance to be a fielding/dh partner with Alonso should we be lucky enough to sign him. Unfortunately, Lowe is on the outside looking in with or without Alonso because hes left handed, which is a shame because I think he has that winning DNA that transcends analytics.
I also agree that the plan for Bres & Co is probably a retreat SP that they’ll say is lemonade….what they need to do is slightly overpay in prospects to get Alcantara or Ryan, and unfortunately I think Abreu gets tossed in that mix.
The Red Sox are in the ultimate catbird seat…..money to spend under the tax threshold and the #1 rated farm system in mlb…..if not now, when?!?!?!?!
WHEN should always be NOW for big market teams like the Sox. Theo and DD both proved you can win it all with a depleted farm system, so have a top rated system is a big plus.
Sox could package Duran, Abreu, and Yoshi for a top line pitcher while thinning out the OF Jam and clearing the DH spot.
That leaves Anthony, Ceddanna, and Password as your outfield. Nice mix talent there.
Other than 1b being unsettled, you have the Bregman/Story opt outs to deal with. I think Breg opts out, but resigns on a longer contract. I think Story stays, but needs to move to 2nd. That leaves Meyer at short.
Sox will have a good line up. Just need another ‘ace’ or top line #2, We have the pieces to get that.
DBH – Listen, I agree with you about spending money. The Fenway Sports Group uses the Red Sox as the wallet for their sports empire while holding a firm line under the tax on the Sox themselves.
Story is probably staying, and Bregman should get as far away from Boston as possible.. Can’t trade both Duran and Abreu. One goes for a SP and a free agent for some HR pop in the lineup.
Money should never be the impediment for the Sox.
I see the cubs making an attempt to sign him
Pete opted out as soon as the Season ended as the Mets choked once again on the last day to the Marlins ( a Met tradition ) Lol Mets.
What did the Mets ever do to hurt you? What classy team do you root for?
The minute after the Mets eliminated themselves from the postseason on the last day of the Season the first thing Alonso did was announce that he was opting out. I found that a bit rough.
Always struck me as a little odd that Alonso is the one guy that Cohen isn’t willing to shower money on. I wonder if there’s some personal animosity. Cohen loves to lose money on that team, but Alonso seems to be the one exception.
CaseyAbell: Sure, like $30 million for the season was peanuts and pocket change.
For that team $30 million is nothing. The estimates are that Cohen lost at least $250 million on the Mets this year. But for some reason he gets tightfisted when it comes to the franchise home run leader. A little strange.
Yeah but he had to go through some media fire hoops first, and in the end only got the one year. Cohen had no problem going big for Soto, verlander, Scherzer, Diaz, Nimmo.
Not analogous: Verlander and Scherzer were short-term deals. Soto and DIaz are absolutely elite in a way that Alonso will never again be. Nimmo didn’t get big dollars, just a long deal.
The comment was about was he didn’t squabble with them. Nimmo got his long term deal, not the short opt out. Scherzer and verlander were handsomely paid , record setting. Soto and Diaz are elite and got elite contracts. He courted these guys. Pete is and was the top 1B available
Scherzer and Verlander were not record setting – Trevor Bauer had gotten the same salary a year or two earlier.
Nimmo got length but not top dollar. S & V got top dollar but not length. Alonso wants both, length and top dollar.
And let’s not forget that Alonso snubbed a long-term offer without even making a counter-offer. And that wasn’t Boras’ doing, as he was not Alonso’s agent at that point.
Casey- actually Cohen was the one person in the organization that wanted to sign him, even flying to meet him and make the final offer. Didnt enjoy dealing with Boras though
Its these analytics driven GMs that devalue the power hitting first baseman. They ignore the reality of a guy hitting 30+ hrs every year. Mets GM Stearns signed Rowdy Tellez as his 1B lol while in Milwaukee
As much as I would love to have Alonso on the Red Sox, they missed their opportunity and they should have locked him up last year in a down market instead of signing Bregman. Thats said, if they can get him on a high aav 2 or 3 yr, do it asap
I think the Mets probably end up letting him walk. He’s been a very good player on a fringe team, but I don’t think he’s the difference between the playoffs and not for the Mets. I don’t see him sticking at 1B over the course of his next contract and Mets will probably move Soto to DH at some point.
I think between McNeil, Vientos, Baty and Jett Williams they’ll have infield options.
Willis, I agree they let him walk rather than meet his inflated expectations. But I can’t understand your logic re infielders. You’re talking about infielders vs a 1st baseman. Different positions. 1B requires more offense – a lot more – than the other IF positions. McNeil is fading. Vientos is still very questionable after his regression last year. Williams has not arrived yet, we do not know when he will, and we don’t know that he will actually stick as a major leaguer his first time up. Not one of those guys is an answer for 1st base, the team also lacks a DH, and where is the infield depth in that equation?
I’m sure they’ll be active in FA.
You could build an expansion team out of all these guys and call the team The Opt-Outs.
I believe that is indeed the name of Scott Boras’ squad. The league runs from Jan -April.
Luis Arráez gets mentioned? Anyone offering him more than $10m per season needs to get their head examined. He’s had 2 mediocre seasons in a row and shows no signs of suddenly getting younger.
If he leaves the Mets then they must blow that team up. Losing the heart and soul of that ballclub nothing on that club matters. Start a complete rebuild. If Lindor and Soto don’t want to be part of that then they must be traded as well.
Trading Lindor and Soto is MLB the show video game stuff, simply not a thing in the real world to many moving parts to a trade like that. It would need to be some once in a lifetime stars align type stuff.
@towinagain This is a bait post to draw angry/snarky comments. Some fell for it…
For some crazy reason Boras recently stated the Reds would be a good fit…
Alonso’s bat just fits Baltimore’s lineup too well for them to not make an offer here. This is the legitimate RH power bat that lineup needs. Between the DH, 1B and C position you have Alonso, Basallo and Adley.
Mayo started coming on a bit at the end of the season but they need to be making win now moves. They need a starter, a legitimate RH power bat and a bullpen arm as priorities. They could use two starters and a couple of arms for the bullpen but the extra starter and bullpen arms could be acquired at the deadline if needed.
This would be a win now move and I thought they should have made an offer to him last season as well.
They have a RF and a SS. They need pretty much everything else.
Baltimore? They have almost the entire starting lineup filled. They need a RH power bat, at least one very good starter and bullpen arms.
Alonso fits because he’s the power RH bat they need and can split 1B and DH.
Adley is the starter at catcher
Basallo gets reps at 1B and C
All 3 can cycle in and out of the DH position
They non tender or trade Mountcastle and other players to fill the bullpen voids.
They go after Imai once he gets posted and also bring another starter in and they are in great shape and can augment at the deadline with whatever is needed.
If I had to put together a list of targets it would be:
Alonso
Imai
Devin Williams
Brandon Woodruff
It’s almost like Pete Alonso’s agent is a veteran who is willing to infer a high spending team is interested in his client to drive the market up.
But Scott Boras would never do that…
This is what I will *never* understand about MLB owners. Regardless of how they made their $, most of them didn’t get to where they are by being gullible or stupid.
Boras has been getting MLB teams to basically negotiate with themselves for *years.* This isn’t a new tactic, it’s like the oldest tactic Boras has in his “toolkit.,” and we *know* that it’s worked multiple times before. Owners/GMs wouldn’t have to actually collude or do anything that violates the law or the CBA to figure out if Boras is likely doing it again. All they’d have to do is *pay attention* at league meetings! Despite that, an owner and/or GM usually falls for this game and ends up overpaying for a Boras client quite often.
If Boras ever wanted to stop being a player agent, he could make just as much money teaching other agents how to hoodwink MLB owners/GMs like he does.
Mets need to sign alonso. 5 year $150 million. Part time 1b and part time DH.
Boras and Alonso are already alienating teams by saying they want 7 years.
7 years?!?! For a guy who’s 31 and doesn’t play good defense?!?! Boras has lost his mind, and Alonso’s going to probably end up regretting allowing Boras to run things for him.
7 years for a guy who’s 31 and doesn’t play good defense already?!?!
It’s called positioning. Negotiating 101
There is every indication the Phillies are going to move on from Nick Castellanos (sp). Supposedly they would move Harper back to right field and sign the Polar Bear to play first. Shame because Harper has become an excellent first baseman and in right he would only be okay . However the Phils need a power bat from the right side.
I am I the only Nats fan who *doesn’t* want them to make a run at Alonso? Signing him might have made sense last offseason when it looked like the Nats “young core” were going to take a step forward and they might be able to compete for a playoff spot in 2026.
That didn’t happen, and the rebuild needs to be blown up because unlike other owners, the Learners aren’t going to spend the Nats into contention. (Plus, unfortunately, Crews looks like his production may not match what the Nats thought they were getting with the #2 pick,)
Alonso’s 31, coming off a year in which his production at the plate warrants more $/years and he doesn’t play great defense. By the time the Nats are, possibly, going to compete again in 2028-2029, Alonso’s likely going to be well into a decline. There’s just no point in spending $ on him. Use it to further invest in the minor league system.
I hope the O’s are good again in 2026. That way the season will be more fun for me.
If…and this is a big IF, the Polar Bear can be talked down to a 3-4 year contract…Padres. Suspect it would have to be the last big signing of FA with everyone else of major substance long gone. Alonso at Petco for 3-4 years fills both a big bat and a positional need. Arraez wasn’t cutting it.