Could struggling Mets trade Pete Alonso this summer?

During a recent appearance on the "The Michael Kay Show," ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney explained why New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns may make All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso available to other clubs this summer if the Mets don't turn things around. 

"I think that what you’re seeing is someone who was really good at running a small market team with the [Milwaukee Brewers], using a lot of those types of moves," Olney said about Stearns, as shared by Manny Gómez of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "And trying to plug and fill and trying to find solutions." 

Stearns previously served as an executive with the Brewers from the fall of 2015 until he moved into an advisory role with that club after the 2022 season. He officially joined the Mets this past October. 

There continues to be no sign that Alonso, who is on track to reach free agency after this season, will ink an extension with the Mets anytime soon. As recently as March, he was linked with potential pre-trade deadline moves to the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs. 

Big-spending owner Steve Cohen is widely expected to pursue top-tier free agents such as New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto this fall following the Mets' relatively quiet offseason. Some fans may suggest that Cohen can afford to pay both Soto and Alonso, but MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote for a piece published on March 7 that people in the industry say that Stearns "prefers free agents 28 and younger." 

Soto turns 26 in October, while Alonso will be 30 when spring training opens next February. 

"If they don’t improve, then you got to believe that, because right now he’s got Steve Cohen’s ear, trading Pete Alonso is going to be on the table at some point, and it would be a huge, it would be a big deal," Olney added about Stearns' mindset. 

It's worth noting that the Mets won four of six games after they began the season 0-5, so there are reasons to believe they can stay competitive through at least the All-Star break. It's still quite early into the campaign, but it seems that teams around the league already think Stearns will be ready to sell Alonso before July comes to an end.