Stunning New Team Emerges as "Dark Horse" in Pete Alonso Sweepstakes

Just when the Toronto Blue Jays thought they were the only competition for the New York Mets in the Pete Alonso Sweepstakes, a surprising new team has entered the picture, in the Cincinnati Reds.

As insider Jon Heyman notes in the New York Post, the Great American Ballpark would be a great place for Alonso to re-establish his market value on a short-term deal, in one of the top home run hitting ballparks in the major leagues.

It’s unusual for a star free agent to go from baseball’s biggest market to its smallest (tied with Milwaukee). But Cincinnati, with its smallish ballpark, might be a nice spot for Alonso to re-establish value on a deal with early opt-outs.
It’s probably a long shot, but with Alonso’s market not developing as expected, word is Cincy may consider it.

Although Alonso's career splits in Cincinnati aren't off the charts (.818 OPS), it's a small sample size of only 15 games. Making it his home ballpark could see the regular 40-HR man have a shot at a 50-HR season.

The Reds do have youngster Christian Encarnacion-Strand slotted in to get another shot at earning the first base job this coming season, though he had a disastrous 2024, batting just .190 with a .513 OPS and an OPS+ of 39 — yikes. That's over 60% worse than the average hitter. His season ended prematurely due to injury after just 29 games.

Cincy has Jake Fraley at DH, a decent enough hitter, but nowhere close to the power of the Polar Bear.

Naturally, the Reds option could simply be a "leak" from Pete's agent Scott Boras to get things riled up on the Mets and Jays front.

The Alonso camp is still hoping that the Mets come back into the picture, but along with the Reds and Blue Jays, other teams said to be involved are the LA Angels and the San Francisco Giants (the latter two, says Heyman, have "checked in" on him.