Free agent first baseman Pete Alonso remains unsigned less than a week into February, and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen announced winter negotiations with the team’s longtime slugger at an event Saturday. I got “brutally honest” about it.
Fans chant “We want Pete” during Cohen’s panel at Citi Field with President David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza, Mets owner takes to microphone to explain frustration in effort to bring back Alonso I did.
“Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation,” Cohen said. “(Juan) Soto was tough, this is even worse.”
The Mets signed SOTO to a 15-year, $765 million contract in December, the largest contract in sports history. Alonso is also represented by Soto’s agent Scott Boras.
“We made a significant offer to Pete,” Cohen said. “I don’t like the structure that’s being presented to us. I think it’s very asymmetrical to us. I feel strongly about it.”
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Drafted by the Mets in 2016, Alonso made his big league debut in 2019 and set an MLB rookie record with 53 home runs. In six seasons with the Mets, Alonso hit 226 home runs (third on the club’s all-time list) and became one of the team’s most beloved players in recent history.
“I never say no, there’s always a possibility. But the reality is we’re moving forward and we continue to bring players in,” Cohen said Saturday. . “As we continue to bring in players, the reality is that it becomes harder to fit Pete into a group of very expensive players.
“I don’t like negotiating. I don’t like what is presented to us, and maybe it will change – and certainly I will always remain flexible – but if it stays like this If so, I think we have to get used to the fact that we might have to move forward with the existing players that we have.
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