Pete Alonso’s contract stance has another Scott Boras mistake written all over it

The New York Mets and fan favorite Pete Alonso are at an impasse in free agent negotiations, per Will Sammon of The Athletic.

It's hard to imagine Alonso in a different uniform, but that appears to be the direction things are heading. The Mets re-signed Jesse Winker on Thursday and are "in active talks with other players," which would make it difficult to fit Alonso into their plans.

This was always a potential side effect of the Juan Soto signing. Even Steve Cohen has his spending limits, although this Mets' lineup feels awfully brittle without Alonso looming large in that cleanup spot. The Francisco Lindor-Juan Soto duo will put up plenty of runs, but Alonso would've gone a long way toward protecting Soto and forcing pitchers into compromised positions.

Never say never — the talks aren't dead yet — but Alonso and the Mets are trending away from each other. According to The Athletic, Scott Boras recently proposed a three-year contract with opt-outs, which would allow Alonso to test the market again next winter. The Mets countered with a straight three-year deal, which was rebuffed.

This feels like a classic Boras Blunder™. The superagent has lost his touch a bit in recent years, holding out for these ill-fated, short-term contracts that prioritize flexibility, when what his clients really need is guaranteed cash flow.

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Scott Boras could screw Pete Alonso out of the ideal contract with Mets

Alonso's instinct to hold out for a more flexible deal or a longer deal is understandable. If he's not going to get the six or seven years and $200 million-plus he once envisioned, he might as well get the option to test free agency again.

That said, what is the market for Alonso's services right now? It feels dead. Most teams with a need at first base have already addressed it. The Toronto Blue Jays are mentioned in Sammon's report, but how many times have we seen Toronto circle an available star, only to come up short at the negotiating table? Plus, Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. isn't exactly a dream fit in the corner infield defensively.

If the Mets aren't willing to cough up the opt-outs, and yet Alonso is willing to engage in talks centered on a short-term deal, one has to imagine he does not have his dream big-money contract lined up elsewhere. Alonso is getting desperate. The Mets, clearly, are in a position of power and more than comfortable moving on.

Even if Alonso did get his opt-outs, what are the odds it actually works out for him? The first base market won't be more robust in 2026, and he'd have to go up against Guerrero. Alonso might be even less of a priority for spending teams than he is right now. Plus, Alonso's production has been on a noticeable decline in recent years. Perhaps he'd be wise to accept a strong three-year offer from the Mets and contend with an organization he loves, rather than waiting for a better offer that will never come.

Boras has tried this short-term, opt-out heavy deal structure in the past. It did not exactly work out for Jordan Montgomery. Matt Chapman and Blake Snell came out of it okay, but Snell was a complete disaster for half of the 2024 campaign — all because Boras held him out until the middle of spring training.

If Alonso gets a cushy six-year deal from Toronto, we can all eat our words. Until that happens, though, he's playing with fire by not pouncing on New York's offer.