This winter has been a mix of long- and short-term planning for the Mets. Throughout the offseason, the club has made clear its intent to win now while also working toward becoming a sustainable winner.
The next step the Mets can take toward that long-term goal is to extend Pete Alonso, their homegrown first base star.
Alonso and the Mets agreed on a one-year, $14.5 million contract for 2023 to avoid arbitration on Friday. It was the largest contract awarded to a first baseman in an arbitration negotiation and something that felt surreal to the two-time Home Run Derby champ.
“It was really special,” Alonso told reporters in Tampa over the weekend at a youth home run derby event that benefitted the Alonso Foundation. “As a young kid, thinking back on it, I never thought that that would be a possibility. I mean, it was a dream. As a young kid, you just want to get [to the major leagues], and then once things start to become more of a reality, then it’s like ‘OK, this is real. This is real.’”
Alonso has one more arbitration year before becoming a free agent, but the Mets could eliminate the possibility of free agency in two years by working out a multi-year contract extension. “Polar Bear Pete” is integral to the club’s success on the field and he’s one of the most popular players off of it. The 2019 NL Rookie of the Year is a franchise cornerstone with his consistent offensive production and his passionate playing style has endeared him to fans.
The 28-year-old two-time All-Star led the Mets with 40 home runs last season. This is not an insignificant number, considering the lineup did not feature a ton of home-run hitters. He quietly made a case for the NL MVP Award and he received votes, finishing eighth. Alonso posted a .896 OPS and a 146 OPS+ while playing solid defense at first base.
He’s also proven durable, missing only two games in 2022, 10 the year before and only one during his rookie season in 2019.
His support of 9/11 responders has not gone unnoticed in the Tampa native’s adopted home of New York City. He’s spoken out against bullying by opening up about his own experiences. And while the exuberant positivity has sometimes been questioned (telling fans to “smile” because they get to watch baseball when the team was slipping out of playoff contention in 2021 didn’t go over well), no one questions whether or not it’s genuine.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Alonso could potentially be considered for the captaincy, a title that no Mets player has held since David Wright retired at the conclusion of the 2018 season. But in order for that to happen, he’ll need to be around to see a captaincy through.
For the Mets, it’s a slam dunk. Alonso is a franchise cornerstone they can continue to build around. And while the club might be fine with spending unprecedented money in order to be competitive for the next few seasons, the payroll numbers will start to go down as the prospect pipeline starts to produce cheap talent. Getting his salary figures settled will help with the future payroll planning efforts and help the Mets figure out how to eventually get back under the CBT threshold.
It’s rare that players spend their entire careers with the same organization. It’s especially rare for superstars. Fans were hoping ace Jacob deGrom would be one of the few superstars to wear the same uniform throughout his entire career and were heartbroken when left for the Texas Rangers in December, but were heartened when outfielder Brandon Nimmo said he signed an eight-year contract in order to remain a Met for life.
Alonso wouldn’t say whether or not he has had talks with the Mets about an extension, saying his agent would have a better answer. But he did make clear his desire to win a World Series with the Mets, and the club’s desire to win several championships.
“I feel like that we’re on the brink of something extremely special,” Alonso said. “I know that we don’t just want to win one — we want to win multiple championships.”
It’s about time to start talking about an extension and one of the next logical steps for the Mets in their quest to build a perennial contender.
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