Alonso’s agent reportedly making certain contract demand during talks

Pete Alonso’s path to returning to the New York Mets just keeps getting more complicated.

Talks between the four-time All-Star and the Mets appeared to hit a wall last week. Will Sammon of The Athletic reported that team owner Steve Cohen called negotiations with Alonso and agent Scott Boras “exhausting.” Cohen said not only had the Mets made a significant offer to Alonso, but he also did not like the contract structures being sent back.

According to WFAN’s Evan Roberts on the “Rico Brogna Podcast,” Boras is presenting contracts where, should Alonso opt-out, the Mets would owe him more money. Cohen’s statement that the negotiations are “asymmetric against [the Mets]” becomes all the more understandable.

Reports had surfaced in mid-January that Alonso had offered the Mets a three-year deal with opt outs, with the Mets being the only team to receive that contract structure. Likewise, Sammon and Ken Rosenthal had reported that Alonso’s market was heating up, with the Blue Jays and an unidentified third team joining the Mets in contract talks.

Several factors are working against Alonso in free agency. He is not very athletic and without the positional flexibility teams like as he is tied to first base. Alonso is coming off of a pair of relatively disappointing seasons, posting a .229/.324/.480 batting line with 80 homers in his 1,353 plate appearances between 2023 and 2024. His OPS has dropped for three consecutive years, and his 34 homers in 2024 were the fewest Alonso had hit over a full season. 

Negotiations did not need to get to this point. The Mets had offered Alonso a seven-year, $158M extension in 2023, which the first baseman turned down. As negotiations drag out and Alonso remains on the market, that decision looks worse. His reported demands are not making his market move any faster.

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