Nightengale: Mets Expected to Trade Alonso This Winter

USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale reports that the Mets are “expected” to move Pete Alonso this offseason, according to other executives around the league.

Alonso has been the center of various trade rumors since the All-Star break, ever since the Mets decided they were going to listen on players who weren’t signed beyond 2024. After trading a half-dozen players at the deadline, including Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, the Mets kept Alonso. Reporting came out earlier this week that the Mets were within “field goal range” of trading Alonso to the Brewers, but Mets official said the two sides were never really close, especially because the Brewers’ top prospect—Jackson Chourio—wasn’t on the table.

“The fact that they had every opportunity to sign this guy, and didn’t, speaks volumes about his future,’’ one National League general manager told Nightengale.

We should take a beat to remind everyone it’s not even September yet, and this feels like reporting that would come—if it ever does—a week ahead of the Winter Meetings. And not agreeing to a contract extension with Alonso more than a year from his free agency does not mean that the team will never agree to one with him. Not everyone is the Atlanta Braves.

Nightengale has also previously reported the Mets were all but guaranteed to make David Stearns their highest-ranking baseball operations employee. Stearns is under contract with the Brewers through the end of this year but stepped aside before the season to take on a consulting role.

Alonso has been the Mets’ best power hitter in at least a decade, and he’s amassed 185 home runs in five season—one being the COVID-19 shortened 2020 year. He’s already fifth all-time in home runs for the Mets, and he’s just seven away from tying Howard Johnson for fourth.

This year, Alonso is slashing .223/.326/.523/.849 with 39 home runs and 96 RBIs. With one more homer, he’ll have as many 40 home run seasons as every other Met combined.

He enters his final year of arbitration in 2024, when he’s expected to make north of $20 million.

The post Nightengale: Mets Expected to Trade Alonso This Winter first appeared on Metsmerized Online.