Getty San Francisco Giants potential trade target Pete Alonso
It has not been the kind of start to the first chunk of the MLB season that the San Francisco Giants were hoping for, that is for certain. They, mercifully, ended a six-game losing streak on Wednesday, but the skid sent them comfortably below .500, now at 30-33 heading into a weekend series against the similarly disappointing Rangers.
But the good news is that the rest of the National League is packed with teams off to mediocre starts, and the Giants remain only 0.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the league. We’re still seven weeks from the trade deadline, and among expert observers, the Giants are still a “maybe” on the buyer’s list—and a “maybe” on the seller’s list.
But given their approach to adding players late in the process this spring, adding ace pitcher Blake Snell and slugging third baseman Matt Chapman in March, it’s a good bet that the Giants will take any chance at the postseason as a signal to be aggressive at the deadline. And one insider has the Giants attempting to grab the biggest name on the market: Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.
San Francisco Giants Trade Deadline Move: ‘Wouldn’t Rule it Out’
That insider is New York Post columnist and longtime baseball reporter Jon Heyman.
Speaking on a Bleacher Report podcast this week, Heyman was asked about the possibility of the Giants landing Alonso. “I wouldn’t rule it out. The Giants have been aggressive, they certainly added late, getting Chapman, they got Snell,” Heyman said.
“They’re in the thick of the race right now, right? The San Francisco Giants, they have that last Wild Card spot at this point, so, I think they’re more buyer than seller. There are a lot of teams right on that cusp, are they a buyer or seller? A lot of it has not shaken out yet.”
Alonso prefers to play first rather than DH, but the Giants have LaMonte Wade at first base. (Wade is currently slated to miss a month with a hamstring injury, returning well ahead of the trade deadline.) But the two could split time there and bump struggling Jorge Soler from that spot.
Perhaps the Giants could be put off from another late addition, though, by the fact that Snell has just been placed on the DL with a groin injury after starting 0-3 with a 9.51 ERA. Or by the fact that Chapman is hitting .238/.313/.410.
Pete Alonso a Much-Needed Slugger
Alonso, though, is the kind of pure slugger the Giants could use. They are 21st in MLB with 59 home runs, and no player on the team has more than eight homers this year.
He has the resume — a three-time All-Star in the meat of his career — even if he is slated to be a rental. Alonso is a free agent after the season and Spotrac projects his next contract to run eight years and $263 million.
He has been putting up his usual power numbers, though his production has been slowed by the disastrous start the Mets have had in general this season. Alonso has 14 homers and 31 RBI, with a slash line of .238/.315/.477. But the woebegone Mets could be headed toward a fire sale.
Alonso has been very durable, missing only 24 games in five MLB seasons entering this one, and, more importantly, he has been very productive. Alonso led the league with 53 home runs as a rookie in 2019, and has knocked 40-plus homers in each of his last two seasons. He drove in a league-high 131 runs in 2022 and batted in 118 last season, despite hitting only .217.