With the arrival of Roki Sasaki to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the signing of Anthony Santander to the Toronto Blue Jays, the most sought-after free agents are reduced to Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman and Jack Flaherty, who are waiting to close their negotiations for the 2025 MLB season.
Of the three, the case that has attracted the most attention is that of Pete Alonso, due to the tug-of-war with the New York Mets, between the time they offer him a contract and what the first baseman wants, advised by his agent Scott Boras.
According to The New York Post, the Mets are offering him a three-year contract worth between $68 million and $70 million, while Alonso is known to want five years. One of the factors influencing the Mets’ executives’ decision is said to be data analytics from applications such as Wins Above Replacement.
The Mets’ Disregard for Pete Alonso
In an appearance on the podcast ‘The Chris Rose Rotation’, Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said that such applications underestimate the functions of the first baseman and the Mets would have to value what Alonso brings to the team.
“If you play first base, you basically have to get an OPS of .850 to get paid nowadays. It’s OK, you have to perform. But teams use WAR,” Pasquantino said as he began his stance on the intangibles that Billy Beane’s statistics fail to detect, adding: “If you play first base, it’s very difficult to increase that WAR number because it gets cut down very hard, simply because of the position.”
After exposing the subject, Pasquantino added that in his opinion Pete Alonso contributes a lot to the Mets and is not valued by the team, which is likely to culminate in his departure from the team.
“It’s tough, Pete has been the face of the Mets for the last six years and that should mean something, in my opinion. I’m not there, but it doesn’t seem like (Mets) value the things that he brings, beyond the numbers,” Pasquantino said.