Executives expand on why Pete Alonso remains unsigned ahead of Christmas

On Thursday, ESPN's Jeff Passan revealed that "teams are hesitant to give" free-agent Pete Alonso a long-term contract because his "profile frightens" clubs as a 30-year-old right-handed hitting and throwing first baseman.

One unnamed American League executive and National League executive explained why Alonso remains unsigned ahead of Christmas while speaking with MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

"He’s in his 30s and is a right-handed first baseman who is good — but probably had his best year already," the AL executive said about why Alonso is viewed as "a complicated player" this offseason. "He’s not a defender and not an athlete, but he has no issue with the spotlight; he hits homers and hits them in big spots. He’s a tough one."

While the 226 regular-season home runs Alonso has hit since he made his MLB debut in 2019 has him just 27 shy of becoming the New York Mets' all-time leader in that category, SNY's Danny Abriano pointed out back in October that the slugger "regressed" defensively as he allegedly pressed at the plate amid his walk year.

"He was worth minus-three (defensive runs saved) in 2024," Abriano said about Alonso. "And if you want to use Baseball Savant's (outs above average) metric instead, he was worth minus-nine OAA this season after being worth minus-one OAA in 2023."

Over the past couple of months, stories have linked Alonso with a return to the Mets and a potential move to the New York Yankees. However, reports from this week said that the "Polar Bear" is "a longshot" for the Yankees and that the Bronx Bombers "have zero interest in" Alonso.

"Pete is in a tough spot," the NL executive added. "There doesn’t seem to be a big market for him because of his defense, and with so many first basemen out there, nobody is in a rush to overpay any of them."

Feinsand mentioned that Alonso "may have to wait until January or February" to land the type of deal he wants. It's unclear if he'd offer the Mets any discount at this point of his free-agency journey to keep team president of baseball operations David Stearns from looking elsewhere to fill the club's needs at the position and in the lineup before February rolls around.