As Pete Alonso’s free agency drags on with just over a month until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, his market clearly isn’t as robust as the first baseman’s camp hoped, and per reports, remains far apart in negotiations with the Mets.

With time running out to make a decision, Tiki Barber says it’s time for the lifelong Met to prioritize his legacy over a payday, and seek a return to Queens even if it means taking less money than he may get elsewhere.

“It becomes really damaging to him as a brand, as an entity,” Tiki said. “Let’s say he goes to the Diamondbacks and is good but not great. Are the Diamondbacks really going to cherish him or retire his number? If he leaves the Mets, he hasn’t won anything. How are the Mets going to remember him? As someone who jilted them when he had a chance to make some money and fired his agent to hire Scott Boras, and held everybody hostage until he got the most money he possibly could?

“I almost feel like Pete Alonso…he needs to take the hometown discount like David Wright said. I know this from personal experience. I wasn’t a highly sought after free agent…but innately, I knew I couldn’t leave New York. I hadn’t done enough yet.”

For Tiki, he remains grateful for staying with Big Blue, as that decision made him a household name within the franchise, and by making his post-playing career in New York as well, it has done wonders for his brand. He hopes Alonso can do the same, and become one of the rare players to spend his entire career in a Mets uniform, which will do more for him than taking more money to play with a different franchise.

“If I had left New York in 2000…Giants fans wouldn’t remember me…it wouldn’t have mattered,” Tiki said. “I still feel like spending my entire career with the Giants gave me a memorable legacy, especially if you were a certain age…and that’s because I stayed.

“Staying in one place – especially when the options aren’t great other places – might be the best thing for Pete…I think at some point, Pete is going to have to make a decision on whether this is about Scott Boras or Pete Alonso and what his brand and legacy is, especially if he stays with the Mets.”