A Creative Contract Between The Mets And Pete Alonso Would Be A Win-Win

The New York Mets and their stalwart first baseman Pete Alonso are locked in a pitted battle. Just last week, Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen said the negotiation has been “exhausting.” The hot stove music is getting quieter and quieter, and there are not many chairs left. Putting aside the Blue Jays and the Angels, the most logical place for Alonso to land is back in Queens, where he is 27 dingers away from becoming the Mets all-time home run leader (he has never hit less than 34 in a full season).

However, as Cohen expressed, Alonso’s discussions with the Mets are not going very well. In June of 2023, the Mets made Alonso a long-term offer of seven years and $158 million. That offer was presented to – and rejected by – Alonso’s former agents at Apex Baseball. Alonso has since switched to uber-agent Scott Boras, who is handling the current negotiations.

After the season, MLB Trade Rumors predicted that Alonso would receive a 5-year deal worth $125 million. ESPN was more bullish, guessing six years and $159 million. And The Athletic broke the bank, prognosticating seven years, $189 million. As of this writing, from various reports, the Mets’ current offer is roughly three years and $70 million. What went wrong? Wayne McDonnell at Forbes.com did a great breakdown of Alonso’s worth, but at this point, worth and value seem to be taking a back seat to ego. It now feels personal. After agreeing to pay $765 million to Boras’ prized free agent Juan Soto in December, it seems that Cohen is refusing to be bullied by the always-aggressive agent.

But, like the back and forth prior to a typical arbitration, there may be an easy fix to this situation – an easy solve. And luckily for the Mets and Boras, the hard work has already been done…by others. In 2022, the Seattle Mariners signed their superstar center fielder, Julio Rodriguez, to an incredibly inventive contract that could keep him with the club for 17 years. The specific details of Rodriguez’s pact are not important for this analysis (they can be found here) other than as a roadmap for a potential Alonso deal. When viewed through the Rodriguez lens, it seems extremely doable.

Alonso wants a long-term deal, thinking he will age fine into his 30s. The Mets are concerned about having an aging slugger who cannot easily shift to DH, as they will also have an aging right fielder who will be making too much money to be benched or be traded. The signing of Soto and the breakout of Mark Vientos, who could potentially play first base, have been the main reasons why the Mets went from offering seven years to offering three. But what if the two sides could figure out a way to protect each other; some form of guaranty that if Alonso continues to produce, he will remain employed? Enter a version of the Julio Rodriguez contract.

Here is what that deal could look like:

• The Mets agree to slightly increase their current 3/$70 million offer to 3/$75 million – a clean $25 million per year.
• Alonso would get a fourth year at $25 million if he accrues any of the following during the initial three seasons: (1) 435 games played; or (2) 1850 plate appearances; or (3) a top-15 finish in MVP voting in Year 3.
• If Alonso finishes in the top-15 of MVP voting in Years 2 and 3, or if he finishes in the top-10 of MVP voting in Year 3, then he automatically vests Years 4 and 5, at $27.5 million per season.
• And if Alonso wins an MVP award during Years 3, 4, or 5, a sixth year vests at $30 million.

In addition, like Rodriguez, the Mets could throw in the following kickers:

• World Series MVP: $100K
• LCS MVP: $50K
• Silver Slugger Award: $50K
• Gold Glove: $50K
• All-Star Game: $25K

If Alonso remains healthy and/or productive, the worst this deal could be is 4/$100 million. If remains the player he believes himself to be, it quickly becomes 5/$130 million. And if he crushes it, this becomes a 6/$160 million contract, which is just two million dollars less than the deal Freddie Freeman signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2022, except here there would be no deferrals.

Scott Boras is arguably the best agent in professional sports. Steve Cohen is a multi-deca-billionaire with all the resources and researchers available to him. David Stearns know how to do make this type of deal. This should not be that hard.

Bring back the Polar Bear. Show him some respect. Protect your downside, but allow him some largesse if there is upside. This could and should be a win-win for everyone.

^{*This article has been updated to have the incentive structure not run afoul of the CBA.}