Several weeks ago, the New York Mets signed the largest contract in MLB history when they signed Dominican Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million deal.
The question is whether they will be able to do something similar with the renewal of their first baseman, Pete Alonso.
Team owner Steve Cohen acknowledged that negotiations with the two baseball stars have been exhaustive, but explained that negotiations with Alonso have been even worse and more exhausting.
The Mets’ journey to sign Juan Soto
In order to reach an agreement with Soto, the Mets had three rounds of bidding, and were almost eliminated in the first of those three rounds.
The Big Apple team offered Soto around $500 million, as its first offer was to give the Dominican $41 million a year for 12 seasons.
It is said that the Mets’ offer was in last place among five teams that were in the market wanting to sign Juan Soto, who last season reached the World Series with the New York Yankees.
The Mets may have been quickly out of contention, but Cohen and company were rewarded for their perseverance with the lucrative contract for the Dominican outfielder.
After Alonso’s signing
Now, negotiations with Alonso have apparently stalled, and the player has been unable to sign with any Major League Baseball team, making him one of the most interesting free agents still available, and one of the players who has been the image of the franchise in recent years.
The 30-year-old made his MLB debut in 2019 with the New York club and has 226 career home runs and 586 RBIs.
However, last season saw a dramatic decline in his offensive statistics, which may be a barrier to achieving the deal he wants with the Mets.
In 2024, Alonso hit for a poor .240 average, with 34 home runs, 88 RBIs, 91 runs scored and struck out 172 times.
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