While it was true that for the longest time the owners of Major League Baseball teams were selfish, maniacal, fat cats who treated their players like they were indentured servants. They put them out on the field like a circus ringmaster stringing the elephants along and whipping the lions while counting the money that the freak-loving patrons forked over with zero consideration for the performers.

Yes…the players were clearly taken advantage of. But the days of players having to take off-season menial jobs just to put a roof over their heads and food on their tables are long in the rearview mirror. Instead, players are making more money for one at-bat than players made for an entire career. The pendulum has shifted in the other direction. And who is actually paying the price for all of it? The fans.

Quite frankly, no player is worth the annual salaries being paid to even the best of the best players in Major League Baseball. It’s insane to think that a baseball player can be paid $70,000,000 and the average person is fighting just to earn a living wage. But I am not going to go into socioeconomics. Rather, I am just going to point out how ludicrous this situation is…for both sides.

I love Pete Alonso. As a University of Miami alum, I would rather he had not come out of the University of Florida, but that is neither here nor there. I think he has been a great Met and has been a model citizen…much the same as David Wright was during his career with the Mets.

Alonso was offered a chance to sign an extension, a hefty contract, during the 2023 season. He turned it down. He chose to roll the dice and up the ante and look for a jackpot. He was going to play out the string of his contract and hope that he would turn the baseball world into a frenzy and there would be a huge demand for the most prolific home run hitter in MLB. Scott Boras advised him and convinced him that it was the right thing to do.

There have been other more talented players who took less than perceived market value to sign a long extension to remain with their current team. Alonso chose not to do that. Again, he chose to heed the advice of Scott Boras.

Alonso’s decision backfired. While any team would be happy to have a power bat that produces the number of home runs Alonso’s bat produces, those numbers are deceptive. Alonso is not the most prolific bat in MLB…he is not even the most prolific bat in the Mets lineup. All of his production numbers have been steadily going downhill. And as he gets older, it will only continue that way. Not up…but down.

He should have taken the Mets offer, with an opt-out clause, and continued being the hero he became. Now he has alienated the fan base, the media, and perhaps even some of his teammates.

The Mets front office is not innocent either. Once Steve Cohen took over, before Scott Boras had a chance to get his grubby hands in this one, the Mets should have locked up Alonso for the long-term. They didn’t. They knew what they were in for once Boras entered the picture. They blew it.

Alonso is not the best first baseman in MLB and believing he deserves to be paid like he is (and we really don’t KNOW what he is actually thinking) is ludicrous. The fact that Alonso might well be fixing subs in a Wawa deli if he wasn’t able to hit home runs should make him appreciate the many millions he has garnered as a baseball player, including the fanfare and endorsements just for being a player in New York City.

I would hope that Alonso is in the starting lineup on opening day. But no one player can make a team a winner. The Angels had two of the best players of this generation in their lineup at the same time in Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. They did not win a World Series. They did not win an American League Championship. They did not win an American League Division title. They did not even earn an American League Wild Card berth. In fact, the Angels finished under .500 all six seasons they played together. So that should tell you something.

Alonso…fire Scott Boras…or sign with another team already. Wait…there doesn’t seem to be any other team that thinks you are worth what the Mets refuse to pay you either. David Stearns…at least offer him the contract he was initially offered in 2023 and see what happens. If he turns it down, turn your back and that’s it. It’s over.

Stop…I can’t listen to it anymore. The Mets went on without Tom Seaver. They went on without Keith Hernandez. They went on without Mike Piazza. The Mets will go on without Pete Alonso.