The Mets got a bit of new advice in overcoming the Scott Boras roadblock. With Pete Alonso and the Mets reengaged again ending the stalemate, the outrageous ask by Boras is what made the matter worse. Boras is asking for $100 million for Alonso rejecting the Mets’ previous $70 million qualifying offer. Not resolving this stalemate is neither helping Alonso to get a new home, nor it is helping the Mets to get someone like Alonso to the team. The solution now came in the form of a short-term deal with high AAV!

Well, the effectiveness of a deal with high AAV is seen with Jurickson Profar’s deal with the Braves, which helps the player to secure a short-term deal and opt out later to get a bigger deal. For the unversed, Profar got into a three-year deal worth $42 million, wherein in the third year he can opt for free agency and ask for a higher amount considering his performance. Similar can be applied by the Mets ensuring a win-win situation for both. Will it be then acceptable to Boras and are the Mets desperate enough to get back Alonso?

Crossing the roadblock 

Boras’ outrageous deals are creating problems for both the teams and the players, with the teams looking for other options, and names like Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso are yet to find new homes. In a recent fanfest, the Mets’ owner Steve Cohen also shared their frustration about facing hardball from Boras. In the case of Alonso, Boras is demanding north of $100 million and a multi-year deal, which is not acceptable to the Mets. So what the Mets can offer? 

According to MLB analyst Jim Bowden, offering high AAV for the short term can be a potential common ground for both Boras and the Mets. “He wants to break a contract record but the Mets are not going to do that in terms of money or years”, said Bowden on his podcast with Foul Territory. That’s a very practical thought considering the Mets know that Alonso is not getting a deal from any team and they will stick to their initial offerings of $70 million. “Give a player a short-term deal and an opt-out with high AAV”, is the solution given by Bowden. 

This may work considering Alonso is going to get a good annual value as per his expectation albeit for a smaller period. For the unversed, if the Mets offer him $72 million for three years, then AAV will come at $24 million. This annual value is more than what Boras is asking because if Alonso is getting $24 million for 5 years, it amounts to $120 million! So, Alonso’s expectation of fetching a high price can be resolved and after he opts out for free agency, he can fetch a better amount, considering he would come up with a better performance. A good common ground for both!

Need for Alonso in the team 

The recent proceedings of the Mets pointing their intention of moving away from Alonso. They got Juan Soto at the hitting squad, and they now pursuing Mark Vientos behind Soto and also looking to land Jose Iglesias as additional support. This also points towards overcoming the gap of Alonso at the bases. The former Mets manager Jim Duquette thinks otherwise. As per him, the Mets are over-evaluating Vientos’ ability behind Soto, and in a long and grueling league like MLB, this will prove detrimental for the Mets. Hence, the Mets still have a long way to go to move from Alonso.

If the Mets can field both Soto and Alonso at the base with Vientos and Baty behind, they will still be considered a contending team against some star-studded ones like the Dodgers. Additionally, Pete Alonso being one of the most fan-favorite names in the Mets circuit is a business too good to lose. This was well evident during the recent fanfest of the Mets where the fans were chanting Alonso’s name and were demanding his return. 

Getting back Alonso to the team has multimodal benefits for the Mets and undoubtedly the Mets are not even closer to finding a perfect replacement for these. It will be better for Alonso and the Mets to shake hands again when fielding a contending team is the bottom line.

What do you think about finding a mid-way between the Mets and Alonso? Share your thoughts below.