Despite a dramatic, come-from-behind win over the Chicago Cubs Tuesday that jumped them back into a playoff spot, the New York Mets have lost 12 of their last 20 games and remain in serious danger of missing the postseason altogether despite boasting the second-highest payroll in baseball.
That means the Mets‘ all-time home run leader, 6-foot-3, 245-pound first baseman Pete Alonso may be more inclined to opt out of his two-year, $54 million contract after just one season.
And if he does, one popular, longtime New York sports talk radio host says he knows where Alonso could go — or at least which team will make a strong play to sign the 2019 National League Rookie of the Year as he becomes a free agent for the second offseason in a row.
“The Yankees need a first baseman, and if you tell me they won’t go after Pete, you’re out of your mind,” said WFAN Radio talker Joe Benigno on his broadcast earlier this week.
Yankees ‘Squarely in Conversation’ For Alonso
His statement put the Yankees squarely in the conversation as the Mets face growing questions about their willingness to commit to Alonso long-term,” wrote Pinstripes Nation MLB analyst Esteban Quiñones on Wednesday.
“The timing is significant,” the Pinstripes scribe continued. “(Alonso) has produced another standout season, ranking second in RBIs and fourth in home runs in the National League. That level of production, combined with his power-hitting reputation, makes him one of the most coveted bats on the market.”
Alonso entered the season with 226 home runs in his first six MLB seasons. That ranked him third on the all-time list for most homers through the initial six seasons of a career — and 26 round-trippers behind Darryl Strawberry for most career home runs in a Mets uniform.
Alonso then proceeded to hit 37 home run this year — with five games remaining in the regular season heading into Wednesday’s showdown with the Chicago Cubs. That put him well past Strawberry, becoming the most prolific Mets home run hitter since the Flushing, Queens, team joined the National League as an expansion club in 1962.
Yankees Have Alternatives at First Base
But do the Yankees have a need for Alonso?
Their regular first baseman this season, Paul Goldschmidt, is playing on a one-year, $12.5 million deal with the Bronx Bombers. At 38 years old, Goldschmidt appears an unlikely candidate for the Yankees to re-sign.
The Bronx Bombers, however, also have rookie Ben Rice, who rose from a 2021 12th-round draft pick from Ivy League Dartmouth College to belt 24 home runs while posting an .828 OPS for the Yankees, playing 48 games at first base — as well as 48 as DH and another 34 behind the plate.
While Alonso is of course a proven commodity over his seven-year career, Rice is making just over the MLB minimum salary at $728,000 and has two seasons at a similarly low-cost level before even hitting arbitration eligibility. He then remains under team control for another four seasons.
Yankees Could Also Look to Japan
The Yankees may also set their sights on 25-year-old Munetaka Murakami, who in eight seasons with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s professional leagues has belted 243 home runs, and is also a first baseman. The Swallows are expected to “post” Murakami in the offseason, making him available to MLB teams.
But the Yankees have traditionally had a taste for splashy signings, and the temptation of poaching Alonso from their crosstown rival Mets — just a year after the Mets signed generational slugger Juan Soto away from the Bronx — may be too great for them to resist.
Yankees Tabbed to Grab Mets 6-Foot-3, 245-Pound Slugger by WFAN Talker