BY MIKE RIFKIN
For a generation of Met fans December 11th 2025 is a day that they’ll never forget. It’s the day that the team’s homerun leader and a player that they felt would be the next Met for life Pete Alonso signed a five year 155 million dollar contract with the Baltimore Orioles.
Alonso, was a second round pick (64th overall) by the Mets in 2016 out of the University of Florida. Alonso came up in 2019 and immediately became the face of the franchise. Alonso slugged 53 homers, a Major League rookie record on his way to National League Rookie Of The Year. For seven seasons Alonso was a player Mets fans loved to watch, and in the special 2024 season Alonso had the signature moment. In game three of the NL Wild Card Series against Devin Williams, who ironically now is a Met Alonso hit a go ahead three run homer to put the Mets ahead and they won the game and the series. That was probably the coolest Mets homer since David Wright in the 2015 World Series. In seven seasons in Flushing Alonso hit 264 homers, the franchise record and he ranks in the 10 in homers, Slugging percentage, OPS, Runs scored, RBI’S.
As fans we can criticize Alonso for turning down an extension at an earlier time, but with what Alonso meant to the fans, for the Mets to not even make an offer to him this past winter is unacceptable. Would Alonso being on the 2026 team change what they are? No, probably not, but the Mets are one of those franchises that haven’t had many Mets for life. If you go to Citi Field and look at the retired numbers, the only one who played their whole career for the Mets was David Wright. If Alonso had stayed he would’ve been the second.
As fans we rationalize things, but one of the things you can’t rationalize is what a player meant to a fanbase. Pete Alonso wasn’t Keith Hernandez at first base, but he is sure better than what the 2026 Mets have put out there. Pete would also be the perfect DH, if it was something he’d do for the Mets. Could we consider what has happened to the 2026 Mets karma for not even acknowledging one of the franchise’s greatest players this winter? I hope Citi Field is packed for the next three days, and the Mets fans give Alonso the ovation he deserves, and I want it to be a reminder that there are some things analytics are good for, but there are certain things you cannot measure. Pete Alonso should still be a Met today, is it a annoying narrative yes, would it change things at the moment, no, but it would make most Met fans joyful.
The Sports Insanity Network 