Ex-GM: Pete Alonso's True Market Consists of One Team

Pete Alonso is second in the majors in home runs since entering The Show in 2019, with 226 long balls for the New York Mets. He is now looking for a $200M+ deal in free agency. All signs are pointing to the fact that he is not going to get it, however, whether he and his agent Scott Boras like it or not.

Former major-league GM and current front office insider on MLB Network Radio Jim Bowden says the market for Alonso to get that kind of deal is slim to none.

Other than the incumbent New York Mets, other teams that have been linked to Alonso include the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, and Houston Astros.

All of those teams could clearly use a 35-40 home run hitter at first base. It's a given. But with Alonso's contact demands, Bowden runs down those possibilities one by one, and it's not what Polar Bear would want to hear.

New York Yankees

"The Yankees? (GM) Brian Cashman is not going to give him that money," says Bowden. Cashman has made it clear in the past that he is not one to hand out massive deals to hitters who display only power and nothing else.

Houston Astros

Here's a team that just shockingly traded away a legitimate young superstar in Kyle Tucker because they’re afraid of what he will be asking in free agency next winter. "If they can’t sign Tucker, they can’t sign Alonso," said Bowden."They are not signing him."

Seattle Mariners

"Seattle -- he fits. But they are not going to sign him. They don’t have the money to sign him." It's starting to be a familiar refrain, isn't it?

But you know who does have money? Mets owner Steve Cohen. The word is that last year the Mets offered something around the $160 million range on a long-term deal, while Sportrac values him at $174M on a six-year deal. Bowden says he better take the most recent Mets offer ASAP.

"If I’m representing Pete Alonso, I’m taking the last offer the Mets have put out in front of me and I’m taking it right now and I’m holding a press conference," said Bowden, flatly.

"I don’t see him going anywhere but a return to Queens. I don’t see it happening."

If Bowden is right, it looks like Alonso will just have to 'suffer' for the next several seasons hitting behind Juan Soto and earning $160+ million. It’s really not such a bad fate, is it?