The New York Mets added Juan Soto this offseason, but have yet to come to terms with Pete Alonso. With suitors for Alonso dwindling, the Mets seem to have a good chance of keeping him in Queens. However, their recent free agent negotiations could indicate otherwise.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal revealed that the Mets had discussions with Carlos Santana before he decided to sign with the Cleveland Guardians.
“Santana, 38, played for Cleveland from 2010 to ‘17, and again in 2019 and ‘20. That night, he met in his Tampa apartment with his agent, Ulises Cabrera of Octagon, until 2 a.m., weighing final offers,” wrote Rosenthal. “The Seattle Mariners, Santana’s team in 2022, sought to reunite with him virtually the entire offseason, and were pushing for a resolution. Santana said both New York teams, Detroit and Arizona also were in the mix, while San Diego and Texas had asked him to wait.”
The first base market has started to heat up in the last week. The Arizona Diamondbacks traded for Josh Naylor after Christian Walker signed with the Houston Astros. The New York Yankees agreed to a one-year deal with Paul Goldschmidt. The Rangers traded Nathaniel Lowe to the Washington Nationals. That leaves few teams that can afford and need Alonso.
Steve Cohen may have fans believing that he can simply pay any amount of money to any given player. While that could be the case, the fact that Alonso still has not signed paired with their interest in Santana may indicate otherwise. Santana signed a one-year, $12 million deal. Alonso is expected to sign a much larger deal than that.
The issue is that many teams have filled their need at first base. The teams that could still use Alonso may be hesitant with the chance that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could hit free agent next offseason. The Mets still look like the favorites for Alonso because they have Cohen at the helm. However, at this point, anything could happen.
More MLB: Mets urged to dump Pete Alonso and trade for $400 million superstar
