All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso has been at the center of MLB rumors all winter, seeing his market weaken from more than six teams to seemingly just one or two. With spring training fast approaching, it appears the perennial 30-homer slugger is reportedly still not generating a strong market.
When the offseason began, most around baseball assumed a return to the New York Mets would happen. That changed after the signing of the Juan Soto contract and became even more unlikely after New York re-signed starting pitcher Sean Manaea and outfielder Jesse Winker while adding Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas.
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- Pete Alonso stats (ESPN): .240/.329/.459, .788 OPS, 34 home runs, 88 RBI, 31 doubles
MLB rumors also suggested the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros were potential options. Then, New York signed Paul Goldschmidt and Houston signed Christian Walker. Meanwhile, Alonso is reportedly out of the Mariners’ price range and the Red Sox are after another All-Star on the market.
To make matters worse, contract talks with the Mets have gone nowhere. It went public on Saturday when team owner Steve Cohen referred to negotiations with Alonso as ‘exhausting‘ with the indication that a reunion might not happen. Now, it appears another suitor might not be nearly as involved as previously reported this week.
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According to Fansided MLB insider Robert Murray, he hasn’t found any confirmation to a report that the Los Angeles Angels met with Alonso this week. Additionally, even if there was a meeting, it “appears highly unlikely” that Los Angeles would be a landing spot.
- Los Angeles Angels payroll 2025 (FanGraphs): $188 million
The only teams known to be involved at this point, per Murray, are the Mets and Toronto Blue Jays. While there were some MLB rumors earlier this week that Alonso and Toronto were making progress on a contract, those reports have since been refuted.
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Alonso is already expected to fall well short of the $200-plus million contract he hoped to land when MLB free agency began. Instead, he’ll have to settle for a short-term deal with the hopes of having better luck on the open market in a year or two.