An understandable, petty faction of New York Yankees fans would not mind seeing their squad steal Pete Alonso away from the Mets in free agency, much like the Queens club beat the Bronx Bombers in the Juan Soto sweepstakes last winter.
A fit between the two makes sense. The Yankees could use a secondary big bat behind Aaron Judge in the lineup, and an upgrade at first base would not be the worst thing in the world, either. The Paul Goldschmidt experiment failed, though Ben Rice emerged as a potential fixture of the future despite also getting some time behind the plate as a catcher.
But the organization apparently still believes in Austin Wells, and Rice is slated to be the team’s everyday first baseman in 2026.
That makes Alonso, coming off a 38-home-run season in which he set the Mets’ all-time round-tripper record, not a top option for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
“A serious run at Pete Alonso seems unlikely with Ben Rice seemingly in line to take over as the full-time first baseman,” MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch wrote. “…They’ll also look overseas: The Yankees have been connected to two Japanese stars — corner infielders Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto.”
Alonso, 30, is reportedly looking for a seven-year deal in free agency, much like what he was looking for last season with his agent, Scott Boras. But the market for slugging, defensively below-average first basemen has shrunk with the introduction of the universal designated hitter. Alonso wants to stay at first base, and a seven-year, $200 million-plus contract (regardless of how attainable that actually is) is a significant figure to pay a DH, which is what he projects to be in just a few years.
Additionally, doling out top dollar for top-tier free agents, who figure to have a multi-team market, does not seem to be the M.O. of Hal Steinbrenner as of late.
