Time to look ahead now that Pete Alonso is back in town
It is time to get excited about the 2025 season with Alonso back. Plus, farm system rankings are out, and we have an injury update ahead of spring training...
What’s up with the Mets? 🍎
The Mets recently made an offer of a one-year contract to Jose Iglesias, but the free agent INF is seeing a multi-year deal (SI)
The 2025 farm system rankings have been published, with the Mets ranking No. 9, (ESPN), No. 15 (The Athletic) and No. 12 (Baseball America)
Injury Update 🏥
RHP Christian Scott (Tommy John Surgery) is progressing well and says he’s on track to start throwing in about a month from now (SNY)
Down On The Farm 🌾
The Mets minor league affiliates announced their coaching staffs for the 2025 season on Wednesday:
Rumor Mill 💨
Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado would welcome the idea of being traded to the Red Sox (ESPN)
Despite spring training being a week or so away, the Marlins are still open to adding a veteran starter or two (Miami Herald)
With Pete Alonso saga finally over, now it’s time to look forward… ✍️
Our long-lived national nightmare is finally over.
After an offseason full of speculation and doubt over his future, Pete Alonso will be a New York Met in 2025.
Let’s all collectively exhale and then rejoice.
We had to endure a hell of a lot in order to get to this point, and it will be nice to now finally put this whole sorry saga to bed.
You could make a compelling argument that this should never have played out for as long as it did, but you also have to give David Stearns plenty of kudos for remaining entrenched in his position and not giving in to fan pressure.
That’s what good and smart baseball executives do.
The Mets clearly think Alonso has a concrete ceiling in terms of worth, and they were not going to break through that ceiling. And, in executing this game of chicken to perfection - and also outsmarting Scott Boras - they get their franchise power-hitting first baseman back for a World Series challenge in 2025, while also retaining long-term flexibility at first.
As for Alonso, he also gets what he wanted all along, and that’s to chase a World Series ring while adding to his overall legacy in Queens. He will also get paid handsomely in 2025 and, should he have a monster year, will have the opportunity to test the market again next offseason.
Now, I’m not going to get into the weeds of the deal itself. Our own Michael Baron did an excellent job of that in the wake of the news breaking on Wednesday night, and you can read his instant analysis HERE.
Instead, today is all about looking ahead, and that’s what we’re going to do.
The Mets are without doubt a much better team with Alonso on the roster, and they will enter spring training with a lot of ingredients in place needed to go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers in 2025 (I’m still not sold on the starting rotation, but that’s a worry for another day).
Alonso’s presence automatically makes the lineup a more potent one. Juan Soto now has some legitimate protection, and there is a lot of potential for power in that lineup when you also bring Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez into the mix. The Mets may need their offense to carry them a little bit more this season given the question marks over the rotation and, with Alonso now back in the picture, that becomes more and more likely.
With Soto, Alonso, Vientos, Alvarez, Francisco Lindor, and Brandon Nimmo, this team is going to rake, and the lineup is now deeper thanks to Alonso’s return. You could argue that perhaps another bat is needed, and maybe the team would be better for having a more natural backup at shortstop. Pat Ragazzo of SI did report that the Mets made a one-year offer to José Iglesias, but the infielder is seeking a multi-year deal. However, if the two parties could work something out, that would only serve to strengthen the overall depth of the lineup and help to solidify the infield.
Of course, the infield is already in better shape now Alonso is back. The All-Star slugger will take his place at first base, allowing Vientos to stay at third and removing a lot of the uncertainty that was hovering over the infield prior to Alonso signing. Plus, you now have an open competition at second base between Jeff McNeil, Ronny Mauricio, Luisangel Acuña, and maybe even Brett Baty. Maybe one of those players wins the job all for himself out of spring training, or maybe the Mets could benefit from having a number of impact offensive players share a platoon role at second.
All in all, Alonso coming back wipes out a whole slew of question marks, and the Mets can at least arrive at spring training knowing they have their core in place. If Iglesias can be added at a later date, that’s a bonus. If not, this team should have enough, at least offensively, to be a postseason team again in 2025 and look to go one further than they did in 2024.
Interestingly, in the wake of Alonso’s return, the annual PECOTA projections from Baseball Prospectus have the Mets finishing in second place in the NL East with 90.7 wins, while claiming a top Wild Card spot in the National League. The Braves are projected to finish in first with 92.4 wins. Now, per FanGraphs, Alonso is projected to finish with 36 home runs in 2025. But if everyone stays healthy and if Soto can put together another monster year, I’d wager a lot that Alonso finishes with over 40 home runs. In that scenario, it is feasible to predict that the Mets rack up a few more wins than currently projected and end up beating out Atlanta for first place in the division.
Having Alonso back opens up a whole Pandora’s Box full of possibilities for the Mets.
Of course, we will have to see how this all shakes out once actual baseball starts to be played, but the point stands that the Mets were always going to be a better team and were always going to have a better chance of competing for a World Series with Alonso back in the uniform.
With that now taken care of, we can all put the last several weeks behind us and start to look ahead to what should be a truly compelling and exciting season at Citi Field. And maybe just maybe, given everything that transpired this offseason, we’ll see a more motivated than ever Pete Alonso carve out his best year yet.
But for now, let’s just bask in the glow of Alonso being back, wave goodbye to the hot stove season, and gear ourselves up for the looming return of baseball.
Welcome back, Pete.
Around the League 🚩
Former Met Harrison Bader agreed to a one-year deal, containing a mutual option for 2026, with the Twins (NY Post)
The Angels announced that they have extended their lease on Angel Stadium, which was set to expire in 2029. The new lease runs through 2032
St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch indicated that the city is prepared to move on without the Rays (FOX Sports)
The Rangers announced that they will be inducting former shortstop Elvis Andrus into the franchise’s Hall of Fame
Pitch quality is the one baseball statistic that is arguably changing baseball the most (The Athletic)
If we get the 2022 version of Pete, look out. If he can bat .270 with 40+ dingers in the heart of the lineup, we're going to score some serious runs. And he can do it if he's not chasing sliders away.
Meant to say fifth infielder.