From one great Mets slugger to another, Darryl Strawberry doesn’t want to see Pete Alonso go anywhere next winter.
“You just hope and pray that they work it out,” the 61-year-old franchise legend said during his jersey-retirement-announcement Zoom conference.
Alonso is on track to break every major offensive record in Mets history. No one in Major League Baseball has hit more home runs than his 192 since his debut in 2019. He holds MLB’s rookie record for most home runs in a season with 53 while his three seasons of 40-plus home runs are already the most in club history. No other Mets player had more than one season of 40 or more round-trippers.
The 29-year-old is also just the fifth player in MLB history to record three or more 40-home-run seasons in his first five years, joining Ryan Howard, Ralph Kiner, Eddie Mathews, and Albert Pujols.
But his future with the Mets is murky, which shrouds his pursuit of Strawberry’s franchise record of 252 career home runs in uncertainty. The 2024 season will be his last under team control and with free agency looming next season, there has been little haste from president of baseball operations David Stearns to work out a long-term deal before he hits the open market next year.
“I just hope that he reaches a point and they reach a point as an organization where they come together and keep him there,” Strawberry said. “Let him be the player that he has been. Let him break all the records. Records are meant to be broken. That’s not important. Some guys sit here and don’t want guys to break their record. I hope players break my records. That means I’ve done something and you’ve done something too.”
Strawberry knows a thing or two about Alonso’s situation. He was a free agent after the 1990 season but a souring relationship between him and the front office allowed the outfielder, who had made seven consecutive All-Star Games with the Mets from 1984-1990, to walk in free agency and head west, signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 1991 season.
Alonso’s standing with Stearns and the Mets seems to be in much better shape than Strawberry’s situation 34 years ago. The slugger has continuously stated his love for New York and his desire to stay. In turn, while Stearns has repeatedly opted not to comment on the status of potential negotiations, he’s shut down any talks of a trade and has backed Alonso’s ability to produce despite an uncertain future looming over him.
“I think the relationship with him and the organization is quite different,” Strawberry said. “I didn’t have one when I hit the free agency market when I was in my last season in 1990. They left the door open for me and I ended up leaving. I just hope he doesn’t leave because I ended up personally with a belly full of regrets. There’s nothing like playing in New York.”
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