Steve Cohen expresses confidence in Pete Alonso negotiations despite risky plan

Ever since Pete Alonso's name surprisingly came up at the 2023 Trade Deadline, his future with the New York Mets has been a popular topic. Alonso is set to hit free agency after the 2024 campaign and an extension does not appear in sight.

Alonso's name floated around in trade rumors all offseason, but new President of Baseball Operations David Stearns made it relatively clear that he planned on Alonso being the team's Opening Day first baseman.

Opening Day is ten days away, and Alonso talk has quieted down. While Pete should be right in the middle of the Mets' lineup on Opening Day, his name will presumably be in trade rumors until the trade deadline, unless the Mets are in the thick of the playoff race.

Despite all of the noise, the Mets have never seemed eager to move on from the first baseman. Even with Alonso's future being very much up in the air, Mets owner Steve Cohen made it clear that he wants Alonso in New York for the long haul when he spoke to the media on Sunday.

Steve Cohen has reason to believe Pete Alonso will stick with Mets long-term

Cohen said that there have not been extension discussions with Alonso and from what he had to say on the matter, it sounds like there won't be any.

"We haven't had any discussion and I think at this point, for Pete, it's best for him to go and have a great year and not be distracted," Cohen said Sunday at Mets spring training camp.

Giving Alonso his space and letting him perform really is in the best interest of both sides. Nobody benefits from Alonso having a down year. The Mets would have virtually no shot at making the playoffs, and Alonso would lose himself money. Having contract talks potentially distract Alonso is unnecessary if the Mets plan on getting back to the table this offseason.

The Mets having no interest in inking an extension with Alonso might not sound great for their chances of re-signing him, but that's not exactly the case. This isn't uncharted territory for Cohen, who has gone through this exact scenario before.

"We know how to do this," Cohen said. "We did it with Edwin. We did it with Brandon after the season, and so we'll figure it out when we get there."

After winning 101 games in the 2022 campaign, both Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo, two of the team's best players, hit free agency. There were no extension talks during the season. They both wound up re-signing long-term. Diaz even signed before other teams were allowed to speak to him.

The bottom line here is if the Mets want a player, they're going to do whatever they can to get them. We saw them give Diaz and Nimmo lengthy deals even after not discussing extensions with either player. Cohen can simply outbid the top offer if he chooses. That's what's so good about having the richest owner in the sport on your side.

We've even seen the Mets outbid the field for external free agents. They were the team to offer Yoshinobu Yamamoto the record-setting deal he inked with the Dodgers. Los Angeles wound up matching, and Yamamoto preferred to sign with them. We've seen Cohen outbid the field for players like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Cohen will once again have the chance to flex his financial muscle with Alonso. He'll give Pete the chance to see what he's worth on the open market and then top whatever that offer was. As long as Alonso wants to be in New York, there's little reason for Mets fans to believe Cohen will let him leave as long as he's around.