Mets still have Pete Alonso 'hope' after Juan Soto signing

Shortly after it was reported earlier this week that the New York Mets were "lukewarm on" re-signing free-agent first baseman Pete Alonso, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns insisted that "we'd love to bring Pete back." 

On Thursday, the Mets officially introduced All-Star outfielder Juan Soto as their newest superstar acquisition. Following this, Mets owner Steve Cohen addressed Alonso's uncertain future. 

"We think he is a great bat, and we’re still engaged," Cohen said about the fan-favorite slugger, Mike Puma of the New York Post shared. "We hope that he stays." 

When it was learned Sunday night that the Mets and Soto had agreed to a 15-year, $765M contract, some assumed the club could no longer afford to lock Alonso down via a new deal. However, Stearns and agent Scott Boras poured cold water on such theories during the winter meetings. Meanwhile, Soto indicated on Thursday that he knows Cohen and Stearns must further bolster New York's lineup after the organization's trip to this year's National League Championship Series. 

"My impression of the lineup is it’s really nice," Soto said about a Mets team that currently is without a full-time starting first baseman, per Manny Gomez of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "I think we have one of the best leadoff hitters in the game (in shortstop Francisco Lindor), and I feel like we can even fill it a little bit more. But definitely, it looks really good so far."

Gomez noted that Alonso's market "doesn’t seem as vast as expected" after the "Polar Bear" slashed .240/.329/.459 with 34 home runs and 88 RBI across 162 games this past regular season. As of Thursday, Cohen sounded ready to let Alonso field offers from other clubs. 

"[Alonso] just needs some time to go out and test his market and see what it is," Cohen added during his comments. "And hopefully we’ll get there."

Cohen likely realizes some paying customers won't mind if the Mets "overpay" to keep Alonso. Thus far, he has played only for the Amazins during his MLB career, which began in 2019. He is just 27 homers shy of becoming the franchise's all-time leader in that category. After all, Stearns said on Thursday that the team has the necessary financial "resources" to build around Soto leading up to Opening Day. 

Alonso's free-agency journey seemingly isn't going as he hoped at the start of the 2024 season. It's now worth wondering if he'd give Cohen any discount to stick with the Mets via a two- or three-year deal, assuming the five-year agreement his camp has reportedly desired isn't available to him.