First baseman Pete Alonso is right back where he belongs: with the New York Mets.
According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, Alonso and the Mets agreed on Wednesday to a two-year, $54 million contract. The deal reportedly includes a $10 million signing bonus and an opt-out after the first year, which will pay him a salary of $20 million.
Before and during the 2024 season, Alonso made it known that he wanted to remain with the Mets long-term.
Despite a down year by his standards — slashing .240/.329/.459 with 34 home runs — he got what he wished for. He’ll be with the Mets for the foreseeable future and will be a major part of the squad that will try to live up to the 2024 team. That team had a dismal start but an excellent second half — one that catapulted the Mets into the playoffs and all the way to the NLCS.
Alonso, 30, was ranked No. 8 on Yahoo Sports’ list of this winter’s top 50 free agents, and he will be playing in his seventh MLB season in 2025. He made his debut in 2019, three years after the Mets took him with the 64th pick of the 2016 MLB Draft. Alonso’s rookie year was the type of rookie year first basemen dream of. He smashed 53 home runs, the most in baseball, and hit .260/.358/.583 on his way to the National League Rookie of the Year award.
Alonso has a .249/.339/.514 career slash line but can sometimes produce some ugly rate stats. For example, his .217 average and .318 on-base percentage in 2017 were hideous, but he delivered enormous power at the plate, hitting 46 home runs and 21 doubles.
While Alonso’s stats have been up and down, one thing remains true: He’s durable. He has never played in fewer than 152 games in a full MLB season, and he played in 57 of 60 games during the shortened 2020 season. The Mets will likely be counting on that to continue in 2025 and beyond.