Red Sox Rumors: Mets’ Pete Alonso ‘More Attractive’ With Possible Position Change

What will it take for the Boston Red Sox to sign New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso? The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey says the free-agent slugger could be a good fit for the Red Sox … if a position change is on the table.

“How open is Pete Alonso to spending time at DH? Like (Alex) Bregman, Alonso is looking for the big payday in free agency he didn’t get last offseason,” Healey reports. “For the Sox and others, Alonso being willing to split time between first base and DH would make him more attractive. His agent, Scott Boras, who also represents Bregman, is due to speak to reporters this week, at which point he should shed light.”

Back To Queens?

What about a return to Queens for the right-handed bat? The New York Post’s Joel Sherman doesn’t sound optimistic, based on what David Sterns has said about his club focusing on run prevention moving forward.

“The Mets president of baseball operations used that term no fewer than a half-dozen times in the first 12 minutes of his end-of-season press conference,” Sherman notes. “The term ‘Chekhov’s gun’ refers to the idea that if you show a rifle mounted on the wall in the first act of a show, that gun better be fired by the final act.

“Is ‘run prevention’ Stearns’ Chekhov gun, since he so publicly offered it within 24 hours of the regular season ending? In other words, did Stearns tell us that Pete Alonso is not coming back without ever saying those words? Because we are no longer in the first act, with free agency having begun and Alonso available to all, ” Sherman notes.

And that could bode well for Boston.

“There is strong industry belief that the Red Sox aren’t going to just talk about spending this year, but actually act,” Sherman adds.

Projected Market

MLB Trade Rumors projects Alonso will sign a four-year, $110 million contract and lists the Red Sox, Mets and Cincinnati Reds as potential landing spots.

“Sure, Alonso should probably join (Kyle) Schwarber as a full-time DH, but even then you can make a pretty good case for the former as a better investment,” MLB Trade Rumors reports. “Alonso strikes out less, and is ineligible for a qualifying offer.  The Mets’ late-season collapse prevented Alonso from accentuating his free agent case, not that a strong postseason did him much good last winter.”

As for a possible bidding war, MLB Trade Rumors notes several clubs could be in the mix.

“The Mets could once again linger as a fallback option, willing to pounce with another short-term deal, but there’ll be other suitors with a prominent need at first base. The Red Sox, Reds, Rangers, Guardians and Angels all received middling production from their first base options (though obviously it’d be a fairly big shock to see Cleveland push to this level). The Mariners and Padres have impending free agents at first base. A four-year deal in the $27MM AAV range, or five years in the mid-20s AAV-wise, could be in play for the slugger,” MLB Trade Rumors concludes.

A five-time All-Star, Alonso was a free agent last winter and didn’t find a multi-year, nine-figure contract to his liking so he returned to the Mets, who gave him a two-year, $54 million deal with an opt-out clause.

The two-time Home Run Derby champion said after the regular season ended he would opt out of his contract and hit the open market, which he did last week.

The 30-year-old Alonso hit 38 home runs this season, which was eighth-best in the majors, and drove in 126 runs, second only to Schwarber.

Alonso, a home-grown Mets star, spent seven seasons in Queens. This year he became the franchise’s all-time home run leader, surpassing eight-time All-Star Darryl Strawberry.