By Adeniyi Precious 
At the first-ever Amazin’ Day fan fest at Citi Field, the Mets didn’t announce a big decision on Alonso’s free agency, but it sure seemed like he’s heading elsewhere as spring training approaches. Mets owner Steve Cohen dropped some serious hints during a chat with President of Baseball Operations David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza. Cohen shared that the Mets have already made a “big offer” to Alonso, but said the whole negotiation process has been draining. And comparing it to the Juan Soto deal—he said that one was tough, but Alonso’s situation is even worse.
Alonso, who’s been a fan favorite since his record-breaking rookie season in 2019, has hit 226 homers with the Mets, and even saved the team last year with a huge homer in the playoffs. But with his contract talks dragging on, it’s looking more and more like he’ll be wearing another team’s jersey soon.
Stearns pointed out that Alonso has every right to test the market as a free agent, and while the Mets love him, they’re also excited about some younger talent in the pipeline. But when Stearns mentioned those young guys, the crowd wasn’t exactly thrilled—there were some boos in the room.
Alonso’s still one of the biggest names left in free agency, and the market has been slow for corner infielders like him. Other notable players still without deals include Alex Bregman and Christian Walker, who just signed a three-year deal with the Astros.
Steve Cohen also expressed frustration with the current free-agent deal structures, saying they’re not in the Mets’ favor. He said they’ve already got a lot of high-paid players and bringing in more would make it even tougher to keep Alonso.
Meanwhile, other Mets players like Brett Baty and Mark Vientos have been working on playing first base in case the team needs them there. And Joey Meneses, a former Nationals player, is also getting a shot with the Mets after signing a minor-league deal.
Before all this went down, some of Alonso’s teammates, including outfielder Brandon Nimmo and Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza, expressed hope the two sides could work things out. Nimmo said he’d love to have Alonso back, and Piazza called him a “special player” who can hit 40 homers a season.
In other Mets news, Soto couldn’t make it to the event because of flight issues, but Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo both said they’re feeling good ahead of spring training.