Mets' David Stearns seems to refute Pete Alonso report after Juan Soto news

Less than 24 hours after it was learned that the New York Mets intend to sign Juan Soto to a historic contract, Manny Gomez of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com reported that the Mets are "lukewarm on" re-signing free-agent first baseman Pete Alonso.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke with reporters at the winter meetings on Monday and indicated Gomez's update on the Alonso situation wasn't entirely accurate. 

"We’d love to bring Pete back," Stearns said, as shared by Ben Krimmel of SNY. "Pete’s been a great Met. He’s had some enormous hits for us and we’ll see where that goes." 

Long before Soto and the Mets reportedly agreed to a 15-year, $765M deal that could eventually be worth over $800M total, multiple insiders suggested that Stearns wouldn't be all that keen on locking Alonso down via a long-term contract since the slugger is a right-handed first baseman who turned 30 years old this past weekend. 

While Alonso endured multiple slumps during the 2024 season, he saved the Mets with a dramatic home run late in a wild-card playoff elimination game and then finished New York's postseason run with four homers in 13 contests.

Some were quick to say shortly after the Soto news broke on Sunday night that Mets owner Steve Cohen couldn't "afford" to pay both the All-Star outfielder and Alonso because of luxury-tax penalties. Stearns indicated the richest owner in all of MLB won't be done splashing cash once Soto officially puts pen to paper on his agreement. 

"I think our ownership has consistently demonstrated that there’s going to be resources when we need them," Stearns explained. "There is the ability for us to make baseball moves when we think that they’re there to improve the team. And we’re gonna continue to pursue a wide variety of areas to continue to improve our team." 

Alonso is a beloved fan favorite who has played only for the Mets during his MLB career that began in 2019. He is just 27 home runs shy of becoming the Mets' all-time leader in that category, and he gave the club 34 homers with 88 RBI this past season. 

One would think the Mets lineup that will include Soto would only benefit from also featuring Alonso over at least the next few years, but it remains to be seen if the "Polar Bear" will offer what's become a win-now club any kind of hometown discount before Christmas.