I’m not sure what to expect from Pete Alonso this season. However, he is the clear early favorite for one prize: the most fawning, condescending, and hypocritical spring training statement.
Alonso began his final season of team control last week when he arrived at Mets camp in Port St. Lucie, Florida. When the season ends, he becomes a free agent.
During his first press conference, Alonso practically wrote his love and dedication to the team that drafted him in blood.
“I love it here. I definitely have envisioned myself as a lifelong Met,” he said. “And I love New York, it’s a really special place for my family and (me).”
He said to reporters, “I’ve definitely welcomed the idea (of staying long-term)” in reference to re-upping long-term.
Alonso hit 46 home runs and drove in 118 runs during the previous season, despite having a poor batting average. He continues to be the focal point of the Mets’ current and, hopefully, future for those evident reasons.
Considering those figures, Mets supporters and management should be encouraged by Alonso’s stated wish to remain in Queens in the long run. And it would, with the exception of a minor issue. He is not sincere.
Alonso recently changed representation, selecting the one agent who is least likely to make it simple for the Mets to grant Alonso’s requests.
Currently, Scott Boras is his agent; he openly practices bringing clients to the open market. Alonso also parted ways with Apex Sports Management, a company that had represented him since his minor-league days and had a reputation for being far less combative.
Sadly, no reporter who was present at Alonso’s press conference had the courage to pose the obvious question to him: “Hey, Pete, if you want to stay in New York as badly as you say you do, how come you just hired the one guy who’s least likely to make that happen?”
Despite the obviousness of the answer, the question remained unanswered. That whole thing about wanting to be a lifetime Met was meant for the fan base and credulous members of the media to read. It was the “be nice, don’t make waves” response meant to appease people who hadn’t given it much thought.
Had Alonso been forced to answer to answer the representation question truthfully, this is what it would have sounded like: “I have a chance to make a mammoth amount of money next year, Boras is the guy most capable of getting it for me, and cash is what it’s about. As for staying in New York, I’m down with it if the Mets make the biggest offer. But basically I’ll be available to the highest bidder.”
Do not misunderstand me. Both Alonso’s decision to hire Boras and his decision to switch agents are perfectly acceptable from an abstract standpoint. Don’t even bother trying to convince us that you really want to stay. Boras’s methodology is so transparent and widely applied that it could be patented; his clients are turning to the open market.
Boras is the very last person Alonso would choose to bring his dream of a long-term residence at Citi Field to reality.
According to Alonso, he wishes to remain. However, his behavior suggests a completely different agenda. Calling what the first baseman said a lie might be stretching the truth, but it was undoubtedly condescending and contradictory.