The Polar Bear's Seven Year Itch

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I’ll be honest - I missed it the first time around. Mike Puma wrote a piece about Pete Alonso’s pending free agency that was published on Saturday morning. There were two parts to the article that I thought were worthy of mention on social media - I chose one for clarity’s sake. And we’ll get to those! But I simply breezed by the part that got everyone’s attention as the day went on. The word “delusional” was thrown around a lot. This was the paragraph:

Alonso, who turns 31 in December, is expected to seek a contract of at least seven years — a length consistent with deals the player’s agent, Scott Boras, completed in recent seasons for Marcus Semien and Matt Chapman at the same age (Chapman received a six-year extension from the Giants after his first season with the club on a different contract).

I think two things happened there that caused me not to clock the true lede of the story, 1)I assumed that had already been reported for some reason, and 2)It’s simply a starting point. That’s all it is. I find it hard to believe that Alonso, or Scott Boras, truly believe he’s going to get a seven year contract. He might be the same age as Semien and Chappy. but those two were special cases. Semien was signed by a Texas Rangers team desperate for stars. Chapman is an A+ defender in addition to someone who knows what to do with a baseball bat. Alonso is a first baseman who had glaring defensive issues last year, and as unfair as it may be, his profile of a big meaty power hitter doesn’t age well. But like I said, it’s a starting point.

Which leads me to the aspects of the article that I flagged right away as interesting:

Could Alonso become a primary DH? It’s a reality the slugger has acknowledged is likely at some point in his next contract, according to a source, but it’s unclear how soon Alonso would be open to such a change.

That last part is kind of important - would he only be willing to do this in, say, year seven of his contract? And will there be actual written language in the contract where Alonso has to give permission to pencil him in as a designated hitter more than a certain amount of times in a season? I have never heard of such a thing. It doesn’t mean it won’t happen. It might also be, yes, another starting point. 

The part of the piece I ended up sharing gave more detail to the fateful meeting Alonso had with David Stearns and Steve Cohen in Tampa that finally brought them together to agree to a 2025 contract:

After negotiations stalled last January, team officials convened with Alonso in Tampa, Fla., in an attempt to strike a deal. An animated Alonso, according to sources, told president of baseball operations David Stearns that in the long run he planned to be hitting “500 homers and going to the Hall of Fame,” whether it was for the Mets or another team. Alonso’s impassioned statements may have left an impression on Cohen, who hadn’t really gotten to know the first baseman at that point.

By the conclusion of the two-hour meeting at a social club to which Alonso belongs, the sides were in agreement on a new deal.

I found this fascinating. 500 home runs? He’s at 264 now, so he’s barely halfway to his goal after six full seasons. The Hall of Fame? The Baseball Hall of Fame? At first I thought that was crazy. Then I thought about it. Much like when Jacob deGrom said he wants to be an “inner circle” Hall of Famer, the thought grew on me. And besides, wouldn’t you want a star player of yours to shoot for the moon? Everything is a delusion until it happens I guess. Shohei Ohtani was probably laughed at a couple of times when he admitted he wanted to hit and pitch in Major League Baseball. 

Alonso was apparently “animated” and “impassioned” when he said these things, and it left an impression on Steve Cohen. Either Puma meant to type “Stearns” instead of Uncle Steve’s name, or he meant that Cohen, who was Alonso’s employer for four years up to that point,  never truly knew Peter Morgan Alonso, until he revealed the heart of a lion and the mind of a dreamer. And wouldn’t you want to give a man like that ostensibly a lifetime contract?

Okay, how about a four-year deal. That’s fair, right?

In news that impacts Alonso, Mark Feinsand wrote over the weekend that 3B/1B Munetaka Murakami will be posted by the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball. The Mets are one of seven teams interested in the slugger who will turn 26 next year. (Yes, the Dodgers are one of the other teams.) Murakami is 6’2” 213 pounds. (Alonso is listed as 6’3” 243 lbs.) He bats lefty but throws righty. He has hit 246 home runs in 892 games. Funnily enough, David Stearns was in Japan to see Murakami in person when he hit a walk-off dinger around the time Pete Alonso broke the Mets franchise home run record. He isn’t perfect - he strikes out a little too much and doesn’t walk enough. He’ll still get a decent chunk of change from somebody - he’s too old to get the Roki Sasaki treatment (only being allowed to be offered bonus pool money.)

Mike Puma was a busy guy. On Friday he wrote an article anonymously quoting some of the fired/dismissed Met coaches. “You’ve got a pissed-off owner, so heads were going to roll,” one said. Another claimed that if the Mets get off to a slow start next season, Carlos Mendoza will be next out the door. The latter bit isn’t surprising. The former is fascinating. Uncle Steve has not shown his anger or frustration in public this past year. 

Six out of the eight teams with a bye advanced to the LCS in the last two seasons. (The two teams that didn’t -the ‘24 Phillies and the ‘25 Phillies. What a shame.) Will this encourage teams like the Mets to stop treating the regular season like spring training and aim for 90+ wins instead of 85-89? I sure hope so. 

Francisco Lindor is a confirmed fellow sicko who watched all 15 innings of that Tigers-Mariners game Friday night.

The Arizona Fall League games over the weekend were postponed (Saturday) and cancelled (Sunday) due to tropical storm Priscilla. Hope everyone stays safe over there.