The Question Begins to Arise: When Will Pete Alonso or the Mets Make Their Move?
For the past two and a half decades, Yankees fans have linked Thanksgiving with the surprising comeback of Bernie Williams.
The homegrown, often overlooked centerfielder (it's the Core Four of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera instead of a Fab Five including Williams) appeared poised to join the rival Red Sox until George Steinbrenner upped the stakes on November 25, 1998 - Thanksgiving Eve - by offering Williams a seven-year contract worth $87.5 million. Williams continued his career with the Yankees, who retired his number 51 and commemorated him with a bust in Monument Park in 2015.
In essence, the Mets and Pete Alonso are running out of special occasions to resurrect their relationship.
The route to a potential Alonso and Mets reunion is simultaneously more straightforward and complex than the Yankees and Williams' path 26 years before.
Little conciliation is required in Queens, where both sides have maintained a professional demeanor in their public statements since Alonso declined a seven-year, $158 million deal in 2023 and hired Scott Boras as his agent. Alonso has consistently expressed his desire to conclude his career with the Mets, while president of baseball operations David Stearns has indicated, "...I'd love to bring Pete back" despite investing $765 million to lure Juan Soto to the city.
There wasn't any warmth between the Yankees and Williams when he dismissed a five-year, $37.5 million extension proposal in 1998.
"This is big-league money for a secondary performer," then-general manager Bob Watson said of Williams, who claimed the AL batting title in 1998 and won the second of his four consecutive Gold Gloves.
There's no doubt that Alonso is seen as a star performer by the Mets - even if he's not as balanced as Williams was in a previous era. While Alonso ranks third in team history with 226 homers, he's hit for a .249 average and a 123 OPS+ in the past two seasons, both career lows - full seasons, that is. He's also been worth -4.5 WAR at first base, according to Baseball Reference.
Additionally, Alonso is 30 years old - an age at which first basemen with Alonso's talents (a phrase Mets fans heard often in 1998) typically start to show signs of decline. Stearns has been full of praise for Alonso, but he's always been impartial when it comes to contract discussions, particularly involving a player he inherited.
Steve Cohen, on the other hand, has provided Stearns with nearly unlimited financial resources. At the same time, he's granted Stearns the autonomy that a Mets general manager hasn't had since the pre-Wilpon era. Stearns is now at the point where he can afford to back down, pursue a more affordable substitute, and preserve the goodwill he has built up over the past 14 months.
However, bowing out first would constitute an acknowledgment by Alonso that he overestimated the market for first basemen in 2023, while effectively highlighting the fact that he left millions of dollars on the table. For Alonso, Boras, and their entourage, the negative implications would be substantial, while the Mets, having surpassed the holiday season, can afford to wait until another significant occasion to make a decision. Can Alonso?
After securing a lucrative contract, Bernie Williams continued to excel in sportsbusiness with the Yankees, demonstrating the significant impact of money in professional sports.
Despite his impressive home run total, Pete Alonso's recent poor performance and declining productivity at first base have raised questions about his true value in sportsbusiness.
