When the Toronto Blue Jays signed former Baltimore Orioles home run hitter Anthony Santander to a five-year, $92.5 million free agent contract over the weekend, the general belief around MLB was that the Blue Jays were now out of the picture as a contender for Pete Alonso. The pairing of Santander with Toronto’s home-grown 100-RBI man Vladimir Guerrero Jr. seemed to make adding the former New York Mets slugger redundant as far as Toronto was concerned.
Then came a report Thursday by Andy Martino of the Mets’ cable television network SNY. Martino stated sources told him talks between Alonso, who is represented by super-agent Scott Boras, and the Blue Jays were “advancing.” But Martino was quick to add that any deal was “not done yet and (there was) no guarantee that it gets there.”
TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 10: Pete Alonso #20 of the New York Mets blows a bubble prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on September 10, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
Hopes that Alonso would finally find a new baseball home after a lengthy and frustrating free agent saga this offseason took another hit Thursday afternoon from the Canadian sports media.
Two reporters from the Toronto-based network Sportsnet, Ben Nicholson-Smith and baseball columnist Shi Davidi, took to their respective X (formerly Twitter) accounts to throw cold water on the earlier Alonso optimism.
“Contrary to speculation, Blue Jays discussions with Pete Alonso and Max Scherzer not gaining momentum, industry sources tell Ben Nicholson-Smith and me,” Davidi wrote in an afternoon post.
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Scherzer, a 40-year-old, future Hall of Fame starting pitcher with three Cy Young Awards to his credit and 3,407 career strikeouts (11th-most all-time), had been reportedly negotiating to pitch his 18th MLB season in Toronto. If Scherzer signed there, the Blue Jays would be his seventh team and fifth since 2021.
“Pete Alonso and Max Scherzer could be fits for the Blue Jays in time,” Nicholson-Smith wrote. “But sources tell Shi Davidi and me that there’s no momentum toward a deal on either player right now. Wouldn’t be accurate to say talks are progressing.”
The Canadian sportswriters’ posts came less than an hour after Newsday Mets beat writer Tim Healey reported on his own account that Alonso was “deep” in negotiations with the Blue Jays, and that his final split with the Mets was closer than ever to becoming “reality.”
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