New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso is looking to help out some of baseball's minor-league players. According to ESPN's Joon Lee, Alonso is going to be the latest sports star to get in on the non-fungible token craze, and the Mets star will will be auctioning off digital collectibles and donating the proceeds to charity. Alonso will be helping minor leaguers that need financial assistance for things such as housing, equipment, and nutrition.

"I was a minor leaguer. I know how hard it is on 12-hour bus trips," Alonso told ESPN. "If you're not on the 40-man roster or you're just a regular minor leaguer without any big-league team, you're making around $2.85 an hour when it comes down to brass tacks. To be able to raise funds and help out guys that need it, that are extremely talented because there's big-league talent all throughout the minor leagues, I'm very thankful."

An NFT is proof of ownership for a digital product such as a piece of digital art, digital coupon, or even a video clip. The NFT comes with a unique code that's protected by a digital wallet. For example, the NBA Top Shot program has allowed fans to purchase digital basketball highlights and those highlights can be bought or sold.

Alonso will team up with the charity More Than Baseball to auction off digital art and donate those proceeds. In the past, More Than Baseball has worked with other MLB stars to auction off game-used cleats and other equipment.

The 2020 minor-league season was canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the 2021 minor-league season won't begin until May.

"There's guys on my team were like, they're going on eBay to buy their cleats," Alonso added. "They're grinding, trying to figure out how they're going to get their next shipment of bats. Because if you're not a prospect or drafted very high, it takes like six to eight weeks to get your wood in. And then you could be, you can either not have bags, not have proper equipment."