Pete Alonso’s big numbers at the plate before his final year of arbitration eligibility netted him a significant bump in pay from last season.
The Mets’ first baseman avoided arbitration with the club Thursday by agreeing to a contract for 2024 that will pay him $20.5 million according to The Post’s Jon Heyman.
Alonso earned $14.5 million last season when he produced a .217/.318/.504 slash line with 46 homers and 118 RBIs.
The looming question is whether Alonso will secure a new long-term contract before potentially becoming a free agent next offseason.
It’s a question that may be answered by Opening Day, as players often draw a deadline at the end of spring training for negotiations on a new contract in their walk year.
Alonso this offseason hired super-agent Scott Boras to represent him, heightening the expectation that he will head to free agency.
Pete Alonso and the Mets agreed to a one-year, $20.5 million deal. Jason Szenes for the New York PostBut Boras also indicated in November that Alonso was open to discussing a new contract with the Mets this winter.
On a Zoom call this week, president of baseball operations David Stearns declined to say if any discussions had transpired with Boras regarding a long-term contract for Alonso.
Stearns discounted the idea that Alonso’s contract situation, if unresolved, could apply pressure to the player during the season.
“I think Pete has proven he can handle pressure pretty well,” Stearns said. “He’s performed at a very high level in a highly pressurized environment. I’m not concerned about Pete handling pressure.”
Alonso’s name surfaced in trade rumblings last summer, but Stearns has said on multiple occasions this offseason his expectation is Alonso will be the club’s Opening Day first baseman.
And Alonso, who has blasted at least 40 homers in three separate seasons with the club, has stated his hope that a long-term deal can be struck with the Mets.
“I love representing this organization,” Alonso said in August. “I love being a Met. I love representing the City of New York the best way I possibly can. I love everybody in this clubhouse and being a Met is the only thing I know.”
