After serving as the president of baseball operations for the New York Mets for two months, David Stearns’ new team has not shown many indications about where he plans to take it this offseason.
Thus, with one year until free agency, first baseman Pete Alonso’s situation continues to be a hot topic of conversation.
While it’s likely that Alonso will be there on Opening Day, Stearns could not completely rule out the possibility that he won’t be. On October 2, he made a deliberate choice of words when he said, “I expect Pete to be the opening day first baseman next year.” After all, the Mets had already discussed Alonso with the Milwaukee Brewers before Stearns was hired, and the Cubs are intrigued by him as well. In addition to his.217 average, the 28-year-old Alonso’s 118 RBI, 46 home runs, and.821 OPS from the previous season solidified his status as one of baseball’s best power hitters.
However, what would happen if Stearns decides to trade Alonso but neither of those teams would be a good fit for him? The Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, who are rich in prospects, might be a match, according to prospect expert Kiley McDaniel of ESPN Baseball Insider.
Baltimore makes the most sense if the Mets want to make a trade and the Brewers decide to subtract. Given the abundance of youthful talent on the Orioles, it would be simple to put together a trade involving outfielders Dylan Beavers or Jud Fabian as the main player and a 40-man roster addition or rookie-level lottery ticket as a side piece.
With 134 at-bats, the 22-year-old Beavers concluded the 2023 season in Double-A. In 119 games (445 at-bats), he recorded a.288/.383/.467 line with 11 home runs, 60 RBI, and 27 steals between High-A and Double-A. He was a “rising star in a system suddenly flush with talented outfielders,” according to MLB Pipeline, which ranked him as the Orioles’ ninth-best prospect at the halfway point of the season.
Fabian, 23, also finished the season in Double-A, but unlike Beavers, he spent more than half of it there (238 at-bats and 64 games). Throughout his 430 at-bats (120 games) at High-A and Double-A, he hit 223/.349/.440 with 24 home runs, 74 RBI, and 31 steals. With the promotion, Beaver’s strikeout rate dropped to 20.4%, but Fabian’s skyrocketed to 37.5%. In its prospect analysis of the Orioles’ 13th-ranked minor leaguer, MLB Pipeline stated that, “if he keeps cutting the whiff rate, he could grow into an up-the-middle impact bat at the highest level.”
It’s important to note that McDaniel and Dave Schoenfield believe the Cubs and Brewers are the most logical teams to extend Alonso, a homegrown star with 192 career home runs, to the Mets.
However, the Winter Meetings begin on Monday, and anything can happen.