PORT ST. LUCIE — Pete Alonso’s assembly with Mets officers in Tampa two weeks in the past pushed him towards a return with the membership, however his want for a reunion was additionally stoked elsewhere.
“There were a lot of guys that were keeping in contact with me,” Alonso stated Monday, referring to Mets gamers. “So it just wasn’t that meeting. It’s guys that I shared a locker room with. It just feels really good to have the respect and be like, ‘Hey, this guy is not only a great clubhouse guy, he can help us win.’ To have that support of guys you have been around a long time means a lot.”
Brandon Nimmo, Jesse Winker, Sean Manaea, Francisco Lindor and Ryne Stanek have been among the many gamers that supplied such reinforcement, in accordance with Alonso, who agreed to a two-year contract value $54 million (with an opt-out after this season).
It ended what crew proprietor Steve Cohen had beforehand termed an “exhausting” negotiation.
Alonso on Monday participated in drills on the sphere with teammates for the primary time this spring because the Mets held their preliminary full-squad exercise in camp.
As The Submit reported intimately, Cohen and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns traveled to Tampa earlier this month for a three-hour assembly with Alonso and his agent, Scott Boras, at a social membership to which the primary baseman belongs.
“I respect that so much and I appreciate that, dealing with people face-to-face like that,” Alonso stated. “It was good to kind of hear their perspective and voice mine and here we are, back at it again.”
Alonso, 30, wasn’t helped in free company by receiving a qualifying supply from the Mets — another crew that signed him would have needed to give up a draft decide.
Alonso was additionally coming off a season through which he produced a career-low .788 OPS.
His 34 homers have been additionally a profession low for a full season.
However Alonso famous his satisfaction in “pushing the market forward” in that his $30 million wage for this season (which features a $10 million signing bonus) would be the highest for a primary baseman.
“I think that’s a win,” Alonso stated. “But also I couldn’t expect something incredibly megalong because I didn’t have my best year. In (2023), I didn’t have my best year, either. The two years stacked up, I didn’t really play to my potential.”
Alonso stated he doesn’t remorse shunning a long-term extension earlier than hitting free company: The Mets supplied $158 million over seven years in the course of the 2023 season, in accordance with The Submit’s Joel Sherman.
“Every step of my career, whether it’s high school, college, minor leagues, even through my six [MLB] years, it’s been you bet on yourself whether you have a contract or not,” Alonso stated. “You have to fight, you have to play and whether you are on a long-distance contract or not, not playing well isn’t fun.”
