Buster Posey's contract stance confirms Giants won't win Pete Alonso sweepstakes
The San Francisco Giants have had an interesting offseason, to say the least. Once again, they struck out on the offseason's biggest names but made legitimate improvements to their roster by signing Willy Adames and Justin Verlander. With that being said, even with those veterans in the mix, the Giants look like the third or fourth-best team at best in a loaded NL West, and on the outside looking in when looking at the NL Wild Card picture.
Games aren't played on paper, but for the Giants to have a realistic shot of making noise in the postseason (if they can even get in), they could use another big piece. A free agent like Pete Alonso still sitting on the open market makes a lot of sense for them.
Alonso's market is not what he had hoped it would be, meaning that the Giants would theoretically be able to get him for relatively cheap. Considering their first baseman options are currently guys like LaMonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores, Alonso would be a good fit for the Giants, who could use another big bat.
While on paper, the Giants loom as realistic threats to the New York Mets to sign Alonso, especially after they cleared some money from Wednesday's Taylor Rogers trade, Buster Posey's stance when it comes to handing out contracts might eliminate them from the Alonso sweepstakes entirely.
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Buster Posey's refusal to offer opt-outs make a Pete Alonso signing unlikely for the Giants
"Buster Posey is completely opposed to opt-outs. He does not want them. That's a real, philosophical, in-cement viewpoint that he has right now in his first year running the Giants," former MLB general manager Jim Bowden revealed on the Foul Territory podcast.
Well, if Posey is unwilling to offer opt-outs, San Francisco's chances just took a massive hit.
There are two types of contracts Alonso is probably seeking right now, especially with Scott Boras as his agent. He is either going to want a short-term deal that includes a high AAV and opt-outs, or he's going to want a long-term deal that locks him in for at least five or six seasons.
The short-term deal would, in theory, be more comfortable for the team, considering Alonso is a one-dimensional first baseman who is already 30 years old, but if the deal was short-term, the opt-outs would probably be a non-negotiable from Alonso's perspective. Opt-outs give him the chance to re-test the market in order to cash in on a massive deal. Giants fans saw Blake Snell do that this past offseason and sign a massive deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a result. They also saw Matt Chapman do that, and rather than risk losing him, extended him.
The last thing that Posey wants would be to sign Alonso, watch him have a great year, and immediately lose him. If we're being honest, it's hard to blame him.
With that being said, though, if Posey is unwilling to offer opt-outs, the only realistic solution would then be to give Alonso a massive long-term deal. Chances are, that long-term deal will never be offered Alonso's way, making it extremely unlikely that a deal will come to fruition.
Things can change, but unless Posey is willing to change his stance on opt-outs, Alonso to San Francisco feels unlikely.