The New York Mets have a player who could make headlines if they made a decision on his future right away, in an otherwise dull offseason.
Since being selected in the second round of the 2016 draft, Pete Alonso has been a member of the Mets organization. All Alonso has accomplished since joining the major leagues in 2019 is to lead the league in home runs (192, as opposed to Matt Olson’s 177) throughout that time.
In addition, the Mets have not made it known officially what they plan to do with him when he becomes a free agency in 2024. Will they trade, sign him again, or let him finish the season and then sign elsewhere? Prospect analyst Kiley McDaniel of ESPN MLB insiders wrote on Friday that signing Alonso is President of Baseball Operations David Stearns’ best course of action, in part because the Mets won’t receive much in a deal.
“(Alonso will) make more than $20 million in his last year of arbitration because of his big counting stats, so his trade value is middling: something like a prospect that ranks in the 101-200 area of a prospect list,” McDaniel said. “The David Stearns style of GM is usually loath to commit to five-plus years starting with the age-30 season to a right-right first baseman who isn’t an MVP candidate, but doing so is the right move for where the Mets are right now.”
The Chicago Cubs were eager to deal 24-year-old Christopher Morel, a positionless player with some punch (26 home runs,.821 OPS last season) and contact concerns (.247 average, 31% strikeout rate), according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers in November.