Over their 62 year history, the New York Mets have had their fair share of home run hitters. Darryl Strawberry (252), David Wright (242) and Mike Piazza (220) lead the pack. Over a 16-year career that began with the L.A. Dodgers, Piazza had a grand total of 427 homers. Carlos Beltran, who's 7th on the team list with 149, smacked 435 in his career.
Pete Alonso has a chance to eclipse them all. In just five seasons as a Met - one of which was limited to 57 games due to Covid-19 - the Polar Bear, as he is affectionally referred to by the Flushing Faithful, has hit 181 dingers. According to Baseball Reference, in a pro-rated 162-game schedule, Alonso is averaging 46 HRs and 119 RBIs. To put that in perspective, Aaron Judge, who led the major leagues with 62 home runs last season, is averaging 49 HRs and 111 RBIs.
Now before everyone has a cow, I am not suggesting that Alonso is Judge. Judge is a lifetime .284 hitter, while Alonso is a lifetime .255 hitter. But based on what each brings to their respective teams, a case can be made that Alonso is just as valuable to the Mets as Judge is to the Yankees. When his career is over, Alonso could well wind up with 700 or more home runs. And that's Babe Ruth territory, folks, cow or no cow.
That is why it is imperative Steve Cohen lock up his slugging first baseman as soon as possible. Reports that the Mets were quietly taking feelers on Alonso prior to the trade deadline is an indication that they are skeptical they can re-sign him before he hits free agency after the 2024 season. If that is true then Mets fans have a right to be concerned. Because if Cohen was willing to fork over $315 million to Carlos Correa - who at present is hitting .227 with a paltry 14 home runs for the Minnesota Twins - then how in God's name has he not opened up his check book for a home-grown talent who over the last five years has hit more home runs than any other player in the majors, including Judge?
It is unfathomable that someone as wealthy and as savvy as Cohen could have allowed this matter to fester as long as it has, especially given some of the contracts he has dolled out. Whatever else you may think of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, neither were as valuable to this team as Alonso has been since his arrival in 2019. Letting him walk - or worse trading him - would be the dumbest thing this franchise has done, and that includes the infamous Seaver trade in 1977. By the time M. Donald Grant sent Tom Terrific packing to the Cincinnati Reds, the Mets were already a last-place team going nowhere. Cohen is on record as saying he wants to win not one, but multiple World Series. Having a player on the roster who averages 46 home runs a season would make that a whole lot easier.
Maybe all this is just posturing on Cohen's part. Maybe the feelers he was getting for Alonso was his way of gauging how big a contract he would have to come to the table with. Or maybe he still has his sights set on landing Shohei Ohtani over the winter. Assuming he can convince the Angels phenom to move to the east coast, the asking price for his services will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 to $700 million over 10 years. In the unlikely event he becomes a Met in '24, Alonso's days in Flushing are numbered. Not even Cohen would pony up that much money on two players.
But let's just say for the sake of argument that Ohtani prefers to stay on the west coast. The Dodgers or the San Francisco Giants would be the logical destinations. How either of them make it work financially is their own concern. But more importantly, by freeing up the $60 to $70 million Ohtani would command annually, Cohen would have the resources necessary to not only re-sign Alonso, but rebuild the starting rotation and bullpen. As much as I'd like to see Ohtani in a Mets uniform, I'd much rather see another World Series in my lifetime.
If I were a betting man, I'd lay odds Cohen feels the same way. That's why in the end, I believe he and Alonso's agent will come to an agreement on a long-term deal that keeps the Polar Bear in Flushing for the duration of his career. Think $325 - $350 million over 9 years.
Yes, that's a ton of money. But it's worth it, given what Alonso brings to the table.
