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By Jon Vankin
Contributing Sports Writer
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Why has New York Mets power-hitting first baseman Pete Alonso's free agency hit a wall? The 30-year-old's home run total of 226 through his first six seasons puts him on a historic pace, ahead of Mark McGwire, who hit 218 in his first six full years, and only 18 behind Aaron Judge's 244.
By that metric alone, Alonso should be among the most coveted hitters on the free agent market. But it hasn't worked out that way. ESPN's baseball insider Jeff Passan has called teams considering Alonso "hesitant" to move forward on signing him, which probably has to do with his age and the fact that he showed a noticeable drop-off in his offensive production last season.
Alonso, who had topped 40 home runs in all but one season of his career in which he had more than 240 plate appearances, dropped to just 34 home runs in 2024. According to a report by the New York cable TV network SNY, one American League team executive deemed the Alonso free agency situation "complicated."
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"He's in his 30s and is a right-handed first baseman who is good – but probably had his best year already," the unnamed executive was quoted as saying. "He's not a defender and not an athlete, but he has no issue with the spotlight; he hits homers and hits them in big spots. He's a tough one."
But former Mets general manager Zack Scott believes there may be more to the seeming lack of movement in Alonso's quest to sign a lucrative free agent deal. According to Scott, Alonso and the Mets would like a reunion but are playing "a game of chicken" to make that happen.
"The Alonso/Mets game of chicken continues. Maybe SF and the Nats are in on Pete. Perhaps the Mets prefer a 3B .... As for 1B, a Vlad (Guerrero) trade seems highly unlikely," Scott wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account. "Warning: This game of chicken can go on for a long time."
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