ORLANDO, Fla. — All winter, slugger Pete Alonso seemed like a perfect fit to join the Red Sox lineup. Instead, he’s joining a motivated American League East rival on a big contract.
Alonso is in agreement on a five-year, $155 million contract with the Orioles, as first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The move comes one day after fellow free agent slugger Kyle Schwarber signed a five-year, $150 million contract with the Phillies. Alonso’s deal includes no opt-outs and no deferrals, according to a source with knowledge of the agreement.
The Red Sox are believed to have made a formal offer to Alonso, who drove from his Tampa home to meet with interested teams at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando this week. It’s unclear how close Boston was in its pursuit. At the outset of the offseason, at least one top Red Sox decision-maker preferred Alonso to Schwarber at the top of the free agent market. The Red Sox had a Zoom meeting with Alonso and his representatives at Boras Corporation before the Winter Meetings and were working to have a face-to-face sit-down in Florida.
Baltimore emerged as an aggressive suitor on the power market with a pursuit of Schwarber in which they reportedly matched Philadelphia’s $150 million offer that got the deal done. The move continues an aggressive start to the offseason for the O’s, who have also signed closer Ryan Helsley and traded for outfielder Taylor Ward.
Alonso, a lifelong Met who opted out of his contract after re-signing in New York last year, hit 38 homers in 2025 and has blasted 264 home runs in 1,008 games since debuting in 2019. The soon-to-be 32-year-old fit the Red Sox as a first baseman who could also slot in at designated hitter. Now, Boston will have to look at other avenues to accomplish its goal of adding a big bat. Trade candidates include Arizona’s Ketel Marte and Houston’s Isaac Paredes while the top of the free agent market includes unsigned veterans Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez.
“Home runs are a foolproof way to put runs on the board,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said earlier this week. “Typically, that type of profile comes with a trade-off, most often contact ability, which is another area that we feel like we need to improve the identity of the offense.
“At the end of the day, we’re trying to score as many runs as possible. There are a few different paths to doing that. I think that the true middle-of-the-order bat that can hit the ball out of the park probably has outsized impact on the rest of the lineup because of the way that you have to attack someone and the on-base implications it can have.”
