Pete Alonso willing to go down with the Scott Boras ship despite all avaliable evidence

Free agency is tricky, especially for a player like Pete Alonso. Alonso has spent his first six seasons in the big leagues with the New York Mets, where he has largely thrived; aside from the shortened 2020 season, Alonso has hit 30+ homers every year since 2019. Someone who has made four All-Star Games and possesses that kind of power should never have trouble finding a job, right?

But here we are with spring training just right around the corner, and no one has signed the Polar Bear yet. While many believe that Alonso's best fit is to remain with the Mets at this point, the Toronto Blue Jays have also been noted as a potential suitor. There is no doubt that several teams would like to add Alonso's bat to their lineup, so what is stopping them? It very well could be his agent.

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Pete Alonso stick by Scott Boras despite free agency quagmire

Throughout the offseason, several rumors have floated around regarding how much money Alonso is seeking. At one point it was mentioned that he wanted at least $200 million, and that agent Scott Boras was using Prince Fielder's 2012 contract (nine years, $214 million) as a comp. Later the more realistic target became Matt Olson and Freddie Freeman's most recent deals, which were both a little under $200 million.

Regardless of what the asking price is that Alonso and Boras have settled on, it is obviously too much. It's fine for Alonso to believe in himself and his worth, but the market clearly disagrees at this point. The Mets, for their part, have already started preparing for what their roster could look like without Alonso.

And yet there's been no change in strategy, even as suitors disappear and New York shows no signs of backing down on its stance. And even though Alonso remains a free agent this late in the winter, it sure sounds like he is trusting Boras whether he should or not.

It sounds like other agents in the industry feel like they could land Alonso a job he would be happy with, but he has chose to remain loyal to Boras. The issue here is that no matter the situation, Boras is all about dollar signs.

Boras has represented all of the following players in his career: Bryce Harper, Jose Altuve, Juan Soto, Corey Seager, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Blake Snell and Corbin Burnes. Obviously his client list is much longer than this, but the majority of these players signed massive contracts after working with Boras. The problem is that the market has changed, and Alonso isn't the same sort of player that, say, Soto or Snell were — the league has evolved to the point where first basemen in their 30s simply don't get paid what they used to.

With the current free agent market combined with Boras' stubbornness, Pete Alonso is between a rock and a hard place. Something will have to give over the next few weeks and it will be interesting to see what Alonso's contract is worth, whether it is with the New York Mets or elsewhere.