Pete Alonso surprised the MLB world by signing with the Baltimore Orioles on a five-year, $155 million contract. That means the New York Mets will not have one of their stars next season, but it seems like they were fine with letting him walk to another team, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic.
“The Mets had some interest in bringing Pete Alonso back but they were not comfortable going to the lengths and figures it ended up at in his deal with the Orioles, league sources said,” Sammon wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
It sounds like the Mets did not want to offer Alonso the money that he wanted, which led him to leave.
Alonso is coming off a big season with the Mets, where he was making $30 million with the team and posting slashing numbers of .272/.347/.524 with 38 home runs and 126 RBIs. He batted behind Juan Soto for the first time, in August, he became the team's all-time leader in home runs, surpassing Darryl Strawberry and his record of 252.
Though Alonso did well in his role, but it still did not seem like enough for the Mets to re-sign him.
Alonso was a fan favorite for the Mets, especially since he was a homegrown star in Queens when he was drafted by the team in 2016.
There could have been some signs that the writing was on the wall. Alonso was coming off one of his worst seasons in 2024, he wanted a long-term contract after rejecting a seven-year, $158 milllion extension in the summer of 2023. David Stearns didn't engage in contract talks with Alonso, which left him having to play on the deal that he was on.
