Pete Alonso: When Loyalty and Money Make Bad Bedfellows

Pete Alonso has learned that he can't have it both ways. Once the face of the New York Mets franchise, Alonso is now the face of failed free agency. Alonso has publicly stated his desire to remain a Met on the one hand, while on the other, trusting that super agent Scott Boras would bring him a mega payday. However, Boras miscalculated Alonso's value on the free agent market. Now it appears Steve Cohen is not so hot on bringing him back, and with no significant offers elsewhere, Alonso is left with no real options.

Now, as the 2025 season looms over the horizon, Alonso is still without a team. The Mets surely could use a four-time all-star first baseman who was homegrown and a proven power entity in the heart of the lineup. The problem is they are not going to pay Boras prices for a player who is no longer the 57-homer Rookie of the Year player from 2019 that had Mets fans comparing him to Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. Alonso has found that his timing could not have come at a worse time, with the MLB record-breaking contract for Juan Soto making him no longer relevant in the minds of Mets fans.

Pete Alonso is 30 years old now, injury-prone, with limited defensive range. He is a player who is viewed as one who would not age well over a long-term contract. However, before Juan Soto, it appeared that Alonso would be a shoo-in to sign a large contract for the team he always wanted to play for. It is important to remember that in five seasons, not counting the COVID season of 2020, Alonso has lived up to the moniker, the Polar Bear. Pete ruled over the borough of Queens, putting up large power numbers as only the fifth player ever to hit over 40 home runs on three occasions in his first five baseball campaigns. Alonso won the Home Run Derby in 2019, broke the franchise record for RBIs with 131, tying Aaron Judge in 2022, and was the second fastest to hit 150 home runs outside of Ryan Howard.

There is also an old-school gameness to Pete Alonso. He is the personification of the Jock that fed off his fanbase. Alonso also showed loyalty on two occasions by signing deals in 2023 and 2024 to avoid arbitration. In 2023, he came back from a bone bruise and left wrist injury from being hit with a pitch in under two weeks when a month or more was the prognosis. The Mets were even willing to offer a large contract extension, which would run seven years and $158 million. Alonso turned it down. This is where the car veered off the track. Perhaps Boras, seeing a weak first base market in 2025, thought he could do better than what the Mets offered, especially after having some big moments in the 2024 postseason.

Alonso is now sitting in limbo along with other Boras clients with no hope of ever coming close to the original offer. There were rumors of three-year deals for half of what was offered previously with opt-outs. The Mets, recognizing his service, wanted to return his loyalty with a goodwill offer. However, Cohen has expressed to the media his frustration and termed the negotiations as “exhausting” and worse than the Juan Soto contract journey. Nevertheless, Cohen looked to meet Alonso halfway. “I will never say ‘no,’ there’s always a possibility, but the reality is we’re moving forward as we continue to bring in players,” Cohen explained, “It’s hard to bring Pete into what is a very expensive group of players that we already have.”

Pete Alonso has come to realize that loyalty goes just so far. His desire to maximize his worth appears to have come two years too late. He is now in a similar situation to another Boras client, Alex Bregman, who also turned down a six-year, $156 million deal from the Houston Astros, who, like Alonso, played his whole career. The difference is Bregman has been told that the offer is still on the table with a possible second suitor in the works. Alonso will have to bet on himself once again and use a deal with opt-outs to try the market again when things may be more favorable for him. Perhaps the Mets will not live up to expectations, and a big year could entice Met brass to sweeten the offer. All these scenarios became complicated because he held out for the brass ring. Loyalty with money attached does not fit well no matter the team, and Pete Alonso appears to be the biggest loser of the 2025 free agency year.