Ranking 4 free agency fits recently named for Pete Alonso

Pete Alonso is set to enter free agency this offseason. That's a statement that many New York Mets fans never really expected to hear. Many expected Alonso to sign an extension before his contract expired, but after hiring notorious agent Scott Boras, it was almost a certainty that Alonso would enter free agency.

There are a ton of potential fits for the Mets slugger. Anybody could use a 40-homer threat that consistent slugs over .500.

MLB insider Jon Heyman listed four teams as teams that intrigued him as the slugger enters free agency.

"It’s been a great six years in Queens with Alonso (who has a .250 average and .878 OPS since the break), but at this point, I might not bet against the Cubs, who need a bopper. The Astros, who have Alonso’s Tampa Plant High teammate Kyle Tucker, would fit, too. The Mariners, as well. He also looks pretty good in Denver (two home runs Thursday)."

That leaves us to rank these four teams in terms of fit for both Alonso and the organization. Of course, the Mets are still in the conversation, but we will leave them off this list for now.

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4. Colorado Rockies

Heyman noted that Alonso looked good in Denver following his recent two-homer performance in the Mile High City. Heyman was very correct in saying this too. Alonso did look very impressive playing in Coors Field. But that's to be expected from one of baseball's best sluggers playing in the most hitter-friendly park in the league. That's really not much of a selling point for the Rockies to go after Alonso besides the fact that it would be fun to see how many homers the slugger could hit in 81 games at Coors.

Fit-wise, this doesn't really make sense. The Rockies aren't close to competing just yet and they need a complete roster rebuild before they start dishing out the kind of money that Alonso and Scott Boras will be looking for this offseason. Maybe a few years down the road, this would have been a better fit, but as of now, it just doesn't make sense.

They could obviously still go try to sign him and, admittingly, it would be cool to watch Alonso blast homers deep into the Colorado night for a few seasons. But the "cool" factor doesn't really play a part when analyzing a player's fit on a certain team.

3. Houston Astros

In terms of a pure fit, the Houston Astros are number one. They are always a competitive team that's looking to add top-end talent whenever they can get their hands on it. Out of all spots on their roster, they don't have a bigger hole than at first base after the failure of a Jose Abreu experiment.

The fit is almost perfect, player and roster-wise. The Astros need a first baseman that can slug and Alonso is exactly that. Alonso wants to go somewhere and win baseball games and Houston may be the best place to do that for him. So what's the issue that leaves them at number 3 on this list?

The Astros have bigger priorities right now. Their number one priority should be resigning their superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker. Tucker should take precedence over any free agent. Houston really can't afford to lose him. Then there's the pitching rotation. They've struggled to stay healthy and there are obvious holes that need to be patched there too.

If the Astros can find the money for Alonso after dealing with their pitchers and Tucker, then this fit makes the most sense. I just find it hard to imagine that Houston can pay Tucker, add pitching and then still comfortably pursue one of the more expensive free agents on the market.

2. Chicago Cubs

Somehow the Chicago Cubs have found themselves in a bit of a mix between a contender and a bottle of the league team. Some days, they show up to the ballpark with a team that could win the World Series. Other days, they look as bad as anybody in the league.

Given their starting rotation being as loaded as it is as well as adding Isaac Paredes next to Cody Bellinger in their lineup, they're really only a few pieces away. They could use one more starting pitcher, some bullpen pieces and a big bat to slot in the middle of their lineup.

The ideal big bat, as was at the trade deadline, is Pete Alonso. Alonso would fit with the Cubs perfectly, adding another dimension of power to their lineup.

Wrigley Field would hinder the home run numbers a bit for the slugger, but it really wouldn't be significant in the grand scheme of things.

Chicago is a few pieces away from contending and they very easily could go after Alonso in the offseason. He's the dream piece for them to add if they want to contend in the next few seasons.

1. Seattle Mariners

Before the season and heading into the trade deadline, I continuously predicted that Pete Alonso could and should be traded to the Seattle Mariners before the deadline. Obviously, the Mets are performing much better than I anticipated and it made complete sense for them to hold onto Alonso.

But the Mariners are still my favorite landing spot for the slugger, and they should be seen as favorites to land him heading into the offseason.

Seattle has the pitching to go win a World Series. That's not really a doubt at this point. Their starting rotation is one of, if not the best unit in baseball. Seattle proved at the deadline that they're willing to do whatever it takes to win by going out and making a few win-now moves.

Now they're going to need to open their checkbooks this offseason to complete their quest of winning the World Series. Alonso is the slugger that's needed in Seattle. Their lineup has been historically bad for a contending team and adding an .850 OPS slugger like Alonso is the best-case scenario for this team. He should be priority number one for the Mariners once the season ends.