Last year, the New York Mets kicked off the MLB offseason in spectacular fashion, signing three-time All-Star career-.948 OPS free-agent outfielder Juan Soto to the largest contract in sports history â $765 million for 15 years.
This time around, the Mets are moving more cautiously. So far, they’ve signed reliever Devin Williams away from the New York Yankees, and traded their longest-tenured player, outfielder Brandon Nimmo, to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien.
Otherwise, the Mets have been in the headlines more for the free agents they appear likely to lose than for any they may acquire. Chief among those is the franchise career home-run king, first baseman Pete Alonso, who belted his 253rd in a Mets uniform this season to pass Darryl Strawberry on the team’s all-time list. Alonso wrapped the season, and likely his Mets career, with 264 round-trippers.
Now, a new prediction by a leading Mets analyst sees the 30-year-old power hitter ending up in what Mets fans would consider the worst possible destination.
Alonso May Once Again Find Limited Demand
So where will Alonso end up, in his second journey through the free-agent waters in as many years? Last year, when the 2016 Mets second-round draft pick ended up back in Flushing Meadows again, on a brief, two-year, $54 million contract â which contained an option for him to opt out of the commitment after one season â Alonso found that his market was not quite as robust as he’d originally hoped.
He may now find himself in the same situation all over again. For one thing, this time around, Alonso has competition. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber has also entered free agency and is an extremely similar-type home run hitter, albeit from the left side.
According to an analysis by Grant Young of SI.com, Alonso’s options appear likely to end up as either the Mets yet again, or the Boston Red Sox, who have made no secret of the fact that they are in the market for a middle-of-the-order power bat, especially after trading away their own home run threat, Rafael Devers, in June.
Prediction Sees Alonso Join Mets Arch-rivals
Ryan Finkelstein, editor-in-chief of Just Baseball and host of the Locked On Mets podcast, published his own prediction on Thursday for where Alonso will sign, and his verdict is â neither of those two teams.
Instead, Finkelstein believes that Alonso will join the team that knocked the Mets out of first place this season and ultimately out of the postseason field altogether â the Amazinâs National League East Division arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies.
Admittedly, the Just Baseball editorâs prediction depends on a decision by Schwarber to leave Philadelphia and sign elsewhere, possibly with the Cincinnati Reds.
“The Phillies would then need to replace a 40-homer bat in their lineup, and there is no more consistent source of power on the market than Pete Alonso. Schwarber and Alonso are really 1A and 1B on this market in terms of power and run production, which makes either a great fit for the Phillies or the Mets for that matter,” Finkelstein wrote.
Alonso, Harper Would Complement Each Other
The Just Baseball scribe also believes that, though the Phillies have a two-time National League MVP at first base already in Bryce Harper â who still has six years to go on his 13-year, $330 million contract, the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick and Alonso would actually complement each other on the Phillies’ roster.
Alonso and Harper could mix and match between first base and designated hitter (DH), keeping both players fresh, and that pairing would also work well in the middle of the Phillies lineup, hitting behind Trea Turner,” Finkelstein explained.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Pete Alonso Predicted to Betray Mets, Sign With NL East Arch-Rival appeared first on Heavy Sports.