KANSAS CITY — Pete Alonso remains to be a Met. But following the Tuesday commerce deadline, the query turns into, for the way for much longer?
One day after phrase leaked that the Mets had been wanting into a possible commerce of their homegrown first baseman, Steve Cohen got here to city to speak to the slugger. The proprietor of the Mets pulled apart a number of totally different gamers within the Kauffman Stadium customer’s clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, in the future after the membership shed vital expertise on the commerce deadline.
Alonso was one in every of them. Cohen mentioned he acquired a promise from the three-time All-Star that he would proceed to play laborious for the remainder of the season. But Alonso is simply underneath workforce management for another season, so he can be a steal for a contending workforce on the commerce market and would internet the workforce a haul of prospects.
“We love him as a Met,” Cohen mentioned. “He’s an integral part of the Mets. He’s still with us for another year and we hope we work things out. Even with [outfielder Brandon Nimmo], we worked things out in free agency. So hopefully we’ll get a few shots at the apple and try to figure it out.”
There have been no significant conversations between Alonso’s camp and the Mets that we all know of. If the Mets have engaged the primary baseman and his agent, then each events have saved the talks underneath wraps. This might imply that Alonso, like Nimmo final yr, desires to check free company.
This additionally might imply nothing.
Alonso is essentially the most prolific hitter the Mets have developed since David Wright. He’s been the face of the franchise since his rookie season in 2019 and has dealt with that properly. General supervisor Billy Eppler is contemplating a visit to Baltimore this weekend to speak to Alonso privately, which is a courtesy he gave to a number of gamers on long-term contracts over the weekend.
The Mets don’t plan to contend for a World Series subsequent season, although they do plan to be “competitive,” and this information was not initially well-received by some gamers within the clubhouse, however the Mets are coming round to the concept a transition season can nonetheless be a successful season.
“As tough as it may be, it’s a little bit of pain now for a brighter future,” Nimmo mentioned.
Nimmo, Francisco Lindor and the remainder of the group are hoping to “surprise” some folks subsequent season. The Mets consider they’ve the items in place to be a workforce that, on the very least, performs significant video games subsequent season. They cited the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies and the 2023 Miami Marlins, who had been anticipated to lose this season and as a substitute are solely a half-game out of a Wild Card spot.
Still, it wasn’t simple to digest the information that the Mets had been waiving the white flag on the season. Cohen mentioned gamers had been nonetheless processing, however took it as professionals.
“Of course, they would have preferred that the club stay together because everyone values the short-term — the here and now — a lot more than down the road. But unfortunately, I’ve got to look at it from multiple angles. I came to such a hard decision because I came to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of the organization to do the right thing.”
Publicly, the Mets are pledging their dedication to Alonso now and sooner or later. Privately, it could be a distinct story. We’ll discover out this winter simply sturdy that pledge to the Polar Bear is.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nimmo remained out of the lineup for the second day in a row with left quad tightness. He might’ve performed by way of it if wanted, however he didn’t wish to should play with hesitation. With the gaps in Kauffman Stadium taking part in so huge, the middle fielder needed to verify he might run down fly balls, so the Mets held him out once more for precautionary causes.
“Today I went outside and ran and I felt really good, but I’m probably missing that last 10 percent,” Nimmo mentioned. “Right now, we’re going to play things a little more safe. Today, I’m not in there. It’s going to be day-to-day, but I’m not worried about it.”
Starling Marte (migraines) was unable to get work finished on the sector with rain within the Kansas City space, so the Mets are going to maintain him on the injured listing no less than by way of the top of the collection with the Kansas City Royals. They’re hoping to activate him this weekend in Baltimore for a collection in opposition to the Orioles.
ROSTER MOVES
The Mets despatched right-hander Vinny Nittoli and catcher Michael Perez to Triple-A Syracuse and referred to as up infielder Jonathan Arauz and right-hander Phil Bickford to take their locations.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com