At this point in the offseason, it’s become clear that Pete Alonso will likely end up with a short-term deal filled with opt-outs.
Earlier this week, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Alonso’s agent, Scott Boras, was using the lucrative nine-year, $214 million deal Prince Fielder agreed to with the Detroit Tigers before the 2012 season.
The New York Post’s Jon Heyman calls that rumor, which Nightengale has since removed from the report, false.
“Not sure where that got started, but it has not a shred of truth to it,” he wrote on Friday.
According to Heyman, Alonso will seek more than the $23 million annual salary in Fielder’s deal, but would not be able to get nine years now.
When Fielder earned his contract, he was entering his age-28 season, two years younger than Alonso. He was also coming off of one of his best offensive seasons, with a .299 average, .981 OPS, 38 home runs and 120 RBIs.
Alonso is coming off of arguably his worst big league season where he batted .240 with a career-worst .788 OPS, including 34 home runs and 88 RBIs. If not for his heroics in the postseason, there may not be such a robust market for him. But his steep asking price is proving to work against him — for now.
Alonso has spent his entire career with the Mets since being drafted in 2016. Since then, he’s become the 2019 NL Rookie of the Year and a four-time All-Star selection. He ranks third in Mets history with 226 home runs, a mark (252) he could break this season if he re-signed.
(NJ Advance Media’s Manny Gomez contributed to this report.)
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