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If I were Pete Alonso, I would want to leave the New York Mets organization. He has been insulted multiple times in a number of ways. Why would anyone want to stay under such circumstances? And so the Pete Alonso free agent saga begins again.
While it is true that Alonso had a down year – for him – in 2024, he still deserved to be treated better than he was, with a better offer than he received. His down year still provided a kind of power bat in a lineup that is not easily found.
Whether or not it was Scott Boras making unreasonable demands, unfortunately for him, no other team thought that way, no other team thought Alonso’s power bat appealing enough to make him an offer. And so he was compelled to return to the Mets on a mutually beneficial opt out contract.
Alonso ended up rebounding and actually having what is probably his best season overall in 2025, even if he didn’t top 50 home runs. Now the saga begins again, to re-sign Alonso to a big contract, or let him walk away. If I am Alonso, I would take the opportunity to go where I am more appreciated and under less scrutiny.
However, the Pete Alonso argument to keep, or fold, is subjective, and can be viewed a few ways.
I just saw a headline that read “MLB Celebrating the Greatest of All” in regards to the 2021 Major League Baseball All Star Game. Greatest of all? Come on. You’re kidding me.
I also have read in multiple places where fans, especially Mets fans, are claiming, and complaining, that Pete Alonso will have ruined his swing by participating in the Home Run Derby. Again…you’re kidding me.
As for Alonso, and anyone else who participates in a “home run derby,” it is absolutely absurd to think that someone’s swing will be affected. These players sport a swing that is geared to home run derby every game. Launch angles…exit velocity…linear weights…terms in 1971, 50 years ago, were associated with a NASA spacecraft launch are now the science behind hitting a baseball.
And it was 50 years ago, the 1971 All Star Game, that it truly was an exhibition of some of the “greatest of all” in baseball history. In that game, 21 players that went to that game in Detroit made it to the Hall of Fame.
Alan Karmin is an award-winning journalist and author. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and spent most of his life growing up in the New Jersey suburbs. Alan's family were avid Brooklyn Dodgers fans and when the Dodgers moved west, the Mets became the team to root for. The Mets have always been a true focal point, Alan even wrote a term paper in high school to analyze what was wrong with the Mets. While at the University of Miami, Alan honed his craft covering the, gulp, Yankees during spring trainings in Fort Lauderdale for a local NBC affiliate, as well as the Associated Press and UPI. He broadcasted baseball games for the University of Miami, and spring training games for the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos. New York Mets Mania is a forum for Alan to write about his favorite team and for baseball fans to chime in and provide their thoughts and ideas about New York's Amazin' Mets.
