There are not many ballplayers who can boast that they spent the entirety of their career with the New York Mets, but one of them, David Wright, is hopeful that Pete Alonso can add his name to that small list.
Alonso, the slugging first baseman, is currently in limbo in free agency, having seen his market shrink rapidly last month after a flurry of first-baseman signings kept him out in the cold. After he turned down a seven-year, $158 million contract extension from the Mets last summer, it appears that he incorrectly bet on himself, under perhaps the not-so-logical guidance from his agent, Scott Boras.
The Mets are still the favorites to re-sign the 30-year-old, though there are as many as eight teams at least inquiring about his services. Regardless, Alonso still has the opportunity to be a lifer in Queens and smash each of the franchise’s major power-hitting records.
Then, he could potentially finish off what Wright had started in New York. Alonso was drafted by the Mets 15 years after Wright was, and since his debut in 2019, no one in the National League has hit more home runs than him.
But while Wright’s Hall-of-Fame career was undone by spinal stenosis, Alonso is healthy and 26 home runs short of tying Darryl Strawberry’s all-time team home-run record. He’s also 16 short of Wright’s 242 round-trippers, which ranks second in franchise history.
“It’s a different feeling when you’re drafted, developed, and playing for the team that drafted you,” Wright said on Wednesday while discussing his jersey retirement. “There’s more pride when you wear that jersey every night. I hope he doesn’t lose sight of that. That being said, I’ve never faulted a player for maximizing his earning potential and going to try to make a great living for him and his family. I can’t fault him for that.”
Wright never saw free agency during his 15-year career. After the Mets exercised an option in his contract following the 2012 season, they inked him to an eight-year extension worth $138 million, which at the time was the largest contract doled out in team history.
The desire to test the market was never really there, as the concept of spending his entire career with one team was only strengthened by watching some of his biggest rivals at the time in Hall of Famers Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves and Derek Jeter of the Yankees.
“What hit home big-time for me was when we were in Atlanta at the end of Chipper’s tenure,” Wright said. “Seeing his words and emotions talking about his time in Atlanta and seeing Derek [Jeter] across town… I learned a lot from afar… That should certainly be a consideration. Hopefully, it’s a consideration for Pete.”
