MLB insider believes Pete Alonso's asking price got more expensive for Mets

While all eyes this offseason will be on Juan Soto, and rightfully so, he's not the only intriguing player to hit free agency. In fact, he isn't even the only intriguing Scott Boras client set to hit free agency.

Pete Alonso, the National League leader in home runs and MLB leader in RBI since making his MLB debut in 2019, is set to hit free agency at the end of the year, and what happens there with him is anyone's best guess.

He has been seen as a New York Met for life by most based on his play and his desire to be in New York, but he has had his worst season thus far in 2024, and with Boras at the helm, he's going to be looking for a contract that pays him handsomely.

Things might've just gotten harder for the Mets on the Alonso front according to Jon Heyman of the NY Post, thanks to Matt Chapman's surprising mid-season extension to remain with the San Francisco Giants.

Matt Chapman deal could increase Pete Alonso's free agency asking price

"The $151M Chapman deal could possibly raise the bar for Alonso, offered $158M over seven years by the Mets last year. Though Chapman’s an elite defender, he’s two years older and never had 100 RBIs. …"

As Heyman noted, Alonso has already rejected an extension worth $158 million, and now Chapman, a player who most would view as inferior, just inked a deal worth $151 million.

The Chapman deal came as a surprise mainly because he too is represented by Boras, an agent known for getting his players to free agency and trying to milk every possible penny for them. That has certainly been the case for players like Soto and Alonso who seem destined to be free agents, but Chapman was an exception.

In regards to an Alonso extension, there are a couple of things to consider. Yes, Alonso is a better offensive player than Chapman and happens to be two years younger, but he's nowhere near the defender Chapman is, and also plays across the diamond at first base.

Whether this should be the case or not, first basemen are not valued very highly at all in MLB. Freddie Freeman, a player most would consider substantially better than Alonso, inked a six-year deal worth $162 million to join the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2022 campaign. He was two years older than Alonso, but was coming off a year in which he played a major role in the Atlanta Braves winning the World Series, and was flat-out better than Alonso is now.

Even a guy like Matt Olson, the player who replaced Freeman in Atlanta, signed an eight-year extension worth $168 million ahead of the 2022 season. He was coming off of a 39-home run season and was two years younger than Alonso is now. No, he wasn't a free agent, and Alex Anthopoulos always finds a way to get his players on cheap extensions, but still, that's how he, an elite first baseman, was valued.

We can argue all day about who is better between Freeman, Olson, and Alonso, but none of the three is substantially better than the other to the point where Alonso should be making under $100 million or over $200 million. It felt as if a logical price for Alonso was already set thanks to guys like Freeman and Olson.

From the way things are shaping up in this year's free agency, it feels as if Chapman's contract impacts Alex Bregman's price more than anything, since Bregman is really the only other strong third baseman on the market. Alonso's price will likely be determined more by what fellow high-end first baseman Christian Walker gets, and by what other first basemen got in the past.

Yes, Alonso is a better player than Chapman, but positions are not valued the same. It's hard to see how Chapman's contract will impact Alonso's much at all. The Mets might choose to let Alonso walk after the year, but Chapman's extension won't be what drives his price to a point where that has to happen.