New, desperate dark horse now threatens a potential Mets reunion with Pete Alonso

The first baseman market moved quickly after a brief standstill, with the likes of Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, Josh Naylor, and Carlos Santana flying off the board. But Pete Alonso, perhaps the biggest name of the free agent class, still remains unsigned.

Even though New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and team president David Stearns expressed interest in retaining Alonso, there is "a significant gap" between the team and player in negotiations. With so many first-base vacancies filled, the Mets are the most logical landing spot for Alonso, even with teams like the San Francisco Giants linked to him. But now, there's a new team that could be in the fray for Alonso.

According to New York Post MLB insider, the Los Angeles Angels are a team looking at Alonso, but notes that the years on the contract is a "possible gap."

"Angels looking at it," Jon Heyman said, h/t SNY. "Again, I think it's the years -- possible gap there. They certainly are weighing that. I do believe Arte Moreno does want to get another big bat in there."

Angels reportedly interested in first baseman Pete Alonso

The Angels are an interesting team. They finished last place in the AL West, even behind the Oakland Athletics, in their first year without Shohei Ohtani, who won the World Series with the Dodgers. This offseason, they added the likes of Jorge Soler, Kyle Hendricks, Travis d'Arnaud, and Yusei Kikuchi. Hypothetically, adding Alonso would be their biggest get of the offseason, and could pair with Mike Trout in the lineup.

The AL West is pretty wide open now, especially with the Houston Astros moving on from Alex Bregman. But would Alonso really put the Angels over the top? The Angels may be a ways away from even contending for the division. But, Heyman mentioned that former Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander is a "more likely" signing for the Angels.

Even with reports of the Angels and Giants having interest in Alonso, the belief of multiple insiders is that Alonso will return to New York to sign a new contract with the Mets. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal mentioned on "Fair Territory" on Thursday that the holdup is the amount of years on the deal, but still expects the two sides to reach an agreement. Rosenthal suggested a short-term contract with high annual salary, citing the reported three-year, $90 million offer going around.

The longer it takes for Alonso and the Mets to reach an agreement, the more we hear about other teams with interest. We'll see if anything is to come from this recent information linking Alonso to the Angels.