What a Cubs-NY Mets trade for Pete Alonso could look like by the MLB trade deadline

With 2024 expected to be a rebuilding year for the New York Mets, it's very possible that owner Steve Cohen will be forced to make some tough decisions.

One of these decisions could include trading a franchise star in Pete Alonso.

Again, the Mets aren't expected to contend, but Alonso could be somebody they could get valuable assets for at the trade deadline if they end up becoming sellers.

Alonso has previously been linked to the Chicago Cubs, who are going to be in the mix for an NL Central title this year and will likely be buyers at the deadline.

Could these two teams pull off a trade with Alonso as the centerpiece? And what would that look like?

What would a Mets-Cubs Pete Alonso trade look like?

Obviously, Steve Cohen is an owner that is hungry to win at all costs, and he'll want a big return if he's going to trade Alonso so as to get the Mets set up for the future and back on the road to contention as soon as possible.

Alonso is of course a free agent at the end of the year, and it might be wise for the Mets to trade him at the deadline as opposed to letting him walk in the winter for nothing but a compensation draft pick at best.

The Cubs certainly have a lot of young prospects they could trade away in order to land him. One such prospect is one the Mets are quite familiar with.

Outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was drafted by the Mets but traded to the Cubs in the Javier Baez trade in 2021. If the Cubs are going to trade for Alonso, it's very likely that the Mets would target PCA. However, the Cubs don't sound inclined to deal their top prospect.

The Cubs also have a power-hitting first baseman in Matt Mervis. He may be somewhat blocked at the moment after the Cubs acquired Michael Busch from the Los Angeles Dodgers, but a spot could open up for him in New York if Alonso is traded. That may be a more realistic haul for the Mets come the trade deadline.

Busch is somebody that could be used as trade bait as well, depending on how he performs with the Cubs.

If the Cubs don't want to trade away Crow-Armstrong (and who could blame them given Alonso would be a rental), Mervis isn't a bad backup plan for the Mets. Mervis, along with a few top-10 prospects in the Cubs system, could get the job done.