NEW YORK -- The anticipation of his Citi Field return properly kindled, Pete Alonso emerged into the public eye at around 5:15 p.m. Monday, clambered out of the Orioles’ dugout and began taking BP here for the first time since last September. As the Mets’ longtime first baseman stepped into the familiar right-handed batter’s box, chants of “Pete Al-on-so!” rang from the stands. Alonso jerseys were ubiquitous.
In many ways, this was the same old Pete. On a check-swing drill, Alonso parked a ball over the fence. On his final swing, he drilled another into the second deck in left, prompting a fan to clamber over three rows of seats to retrieve it.
It was a version of Alonso that Mets fans knew well, having watched him up close for seven seasons. But times have changed, which is why a crowd of 35,880 packed into Citi for a fleeting glimpse of him. Once again, they serenaded Alonso when he stepped onto the field to warm up before the game, then when the Mets played a tribute video on the center-field video board, then when Alonso walked to the plate in the first, and on and on and on.
“I think he got every ounce of love that he deserved,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said after Alonso’s Orioles earned a 2-1 win to eliminate the Mets from postseason contention.
No matter what happens over the rest of his career, part of Alonso will always be a Met. The organization’s decision not to offer him a contract last offseason cannot change that.
These days however, Alonso said, “I feel like Baltimore’s home.”
“I just feel so … genuinely happy, where it’s like I really see myself in a good way with this organization,” he continued. “Hopefully I get to finish my career here as an Oriole.”
The Mets’ breakup with Alonso will always sting fans for emotional reasons, which were on full display during his return to Queens. Yet that decision might have looked different had the Mets effectively replaced him. Take the division rival Braves, for instance. By the time Atlanta let homegrown superstar Freddie Freeman move to Los Angeles following the 2021 season, they had already pivoted to Matt Olson, who hit 34 homers in his first year as a Brave. Since that time, Olson has produced more wins above replacement than Freeman. So while Braves fans will always miss their native son, they can at least justify the move.
The same cannot be said in Flushing, where president of baseball operations David Stearns’ handpicked choice to replace Alonso was Jorge Polanco. Amid multiple IL stints and season-ending ankle surgery, Polanco hit .148 with two home runs and a .431 OPS. Alonso, meanwhile, leads the American League with 100 RBIs and is about to hit his 300th career homer wearing orange and black.
In other words, the Mets have discovered that replacing Alonso is in fact quite difficult.
So how might they do it? Entering next year, Polanco -- who’s still due $23 million -- will be a DH option if he’s on the roster at all. According to multiple team officials, the club feels comfortable continuing to start Jared Young, a pleasant surprise who is sporting an .809 OPS against right-handed pitchers, and pairing him with a right-handed platoon bat.
The problem is that if the Mets want more upside over Young, whose nine home runs represent a career high, they’ll have a hard time finding it on the open market. The top free agents with first-base experience include Luis Arraez, Jake Bauers, Alec Bohm and Nathaniel Lowe. None of them come without a significant measure of risk.
The trade market could provide additional options, especially if the Mets are willing to ask a newcomer to shift positions, as they did with Polanco. But many of the potentially available candidates -- Royce Lewis or Spencer Torkelson or Yandy Díaz, to pull a few names out of a hat -- are only questionable upgrades over Young.
In-house, recently acquired prospects Billy Amick or Cole Mathis may provide a longer-term answer. But as the Mets know all too well, prospects often bust. Entering this season, it seemed likely that Ryan Clifford or Jacob Reimer could impact the big league club this year. Neither of them did. A more dramatic long-term move would involve shifting Juan Soto to first base, a position he’s never played. Yet that’s more theoretical than anything; a source said it’s not something the organization is currently discussing.
Put it all together, and the Mets find themselves in the opposite position they were all those years with Alonso. Last season, the Mets ranked second in baseball with a first-base OPS of .860. This year, they are 29th at .682.
“You can’t necessarily predict things and have things work out in a perfect manner sometimes,” was how Alonso summed the situation, before putting his typical sunny spin on it. “Sometimes you have a lot of talent and it just doesn’t work out for whatever reason. Just based on experience, I think in the future they’re going to be fine.”