ORLANDO, Fla. — Pete Alonso, a Tampa resident, planned to arrive at the Winter Meetings in central Florida on Tuesday to meet with teams interested in signing him.
Though the New York Mets maintain they have interest in re-signing Alonso, their all-time home run leader, they do not plan to meet with him.
“Pete knows us really well, we know Pete really well,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “I think he will take the time here to perhaps meet with organizations he doesn’t know quite as well. And I am sure we will be in touch.”
It is not entirely uncommon for clubs to pass on face-to-face meetings with free agents they already hold significant familiarity with. Still, last year’s negotiations between Alonso and the Mets dragged on. He didn’t meet with Stearns and owner Steve Cohen until February, leading to a two-year deal that contained an opt out.
“I think we’ve been pretty clear throughout the process that we’d love to have Pete back — we certainly made that clear to his agent right at the start of free agency,” Stearns said. “We also respect — just as we respected last year — that this is a process, and Pete has earned the right to go through the free-agent process, to evaluate the market. And we will see where that leaves us.”
The Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox are among the teams interested in Alonso, league sources said. The New York Post first reported that Baltimore and Boston planned to meet with the slugging first baseman.
Pete Alonso has 264 home runs, 12 more than Darryl Strawberry, who is No. 2 among Mets players. (Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)
Alonso is a fit for Baltimore because the Orioles eye a middle-of-the-lineup kind of addition and see him hitting well at Camden Yards, league sources said. Alonso hit 38 home runs last year. According to Baseball Savant, his adjusted home run total at Camden Yards was 45 home runs. The Orioles, however, are also interested in other big-name position players, league sources said.
The Red Sox hold interest in Alonso because they also would like to add power, league sources said. Boston is also interested in re-signing third baseman Alex Bregman. Some of Boston’s infielders such as Marcelo Mayer and Romy Gonzalez have some flexibility and versatility to accommodate different positional profiles.
Here’s some other quick Mets takeaways from Day 1 of the winter meetings:
• Stearns described the trade market as “pretty active,” including in “need-for-need” trades of major leaguers like the Brandon Nimmo-for-Marcus Semien trade the Mets just made with the Texas Rangers. (Need-for-need trades are distinct from the more typical buy-or-sell trades, where one team is trading present major-league talent for the future value of prospects.)
That’s a market the Mets could jump into again, with players like Jeff McNeil and Kodai Senga being used to fill other holes on the roster, be they in the bullpen, the outfield or the lineup in general.
• Stearns said Senga is having a terrific offseason.
“He feels as good physically as he has since that 2023 season,” Stearns said, adding that’s “maybe the most encouraging development in our offseason player progression.” Of course, the Mets have been fielding calls about Senga, and this kind of talk could be an attempt to fuel that interest.
• While Stearns said McNeil could play a lot of left field were the season to start tomorrow, he added, “We are in the market for an outfielder.” The trade of Nimmo leaves the Mets with an obvious hole in left field, as well as the possibility of upgrading in center. Prospect Carson Benge could be the long-term answer at one of those positions.
• Although swapping Nimmo for Semien gave the Mets one more right-handed hitter in their lineup, Stearns said adding another righty bat would still help. There’s a real dearth of available right-handed outfield bats in free agency this winter, in particular.
• Don’t expect Juan Soto to take too many DH at-bats next season, as manager Carlos Mendoza said Soto doesn’t like to DH. Soto started just three games at DH last season and has started only 23 there through his career.
• In talking about the starting rotation, Stearns suggested the trio of Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong would play a big role in 2026.
“We often equate youth with unpredictability,” Stearns said. “I think young starting pitchers have a pretty good history in this league, especially of late, and when they have certain stuff packages, of coming up to the big leagues and having success.”
Obviously, Paul Skenes has been as good as any major-league pitcher since his debut in 2024. But other young starters such as the Chicago Cubs’ Cade Horton, Atlanta’s Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach, Kansas City’s Cole Ragans and Noah Cameron and Seattle’s George Kirby have all experienced success very quickly in the majors.
• Christian Scott should be a full participant at the start of spring training, Stearns said. He, too, fits into that group of young starters for New York.
