{"id":35061,"date":"2025-02-19T01:32:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T01:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=35061"},"modified":"2025-02-19T01:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T01:32:19","slug":"revealed-the-other-personal-touch-that-brought-pete-alonso-back-to-mets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=35061","title":{"rendered":"REVEALED: The other personal touch that brought Pete Alonso back to Mets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 Pete Alonso\u2019s meeting with Mets officials in Tampa two weeks ago pushed him toward a return with the club, but his desire for a reunion was also stoked elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were a lot of guys that were keeping in contact with me,\u201d Alonso said Monday, referring to Mets players. \u201cSo it just wasn\u2019t that meeting. It\u2019s guys that I shared a locker room with. It just feels really good to have the respect and be like, \u2018Hey, this guy is not only a great clubhouse guy, he can help us win.\u2019 To have that support of guys you have been around a long time means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brandon Nimmo, Jesse Winker, Sean Manaea, Francisco Lindor and Ryne Stanek were among the players that provided such reinforcement, according to Alonso, who agreed to a two-year contract worth $54 million (with an opt-out after this season).<\/p>\n<p>It ended what team owner Steve Cohen had previously termed an \u201cexhausting\u201d negotiation.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/2025-port-st-lucie-fl-98744858.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"New York Mets' Pete Alonso smiles at Spring Training, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Port St. Lucie, FL. \" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/new-york-mets-pete-alonso-98738000.jpg?w=1024\" \/><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Alonso on Monday participated in drills on the field with teammates for the first time this spring as the Mets held their initial full-squad workout in camp.<\/p>\n<p>As The Post reported in detail, Cohen and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns traveled to Tampa earlier this month for a three-hour meeting with Alonso and his agent, Scott Boras, at a social club to which the first baseman belongs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI respect that so much and I appreciate that, dealing with people face-to-face like that,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cIt was good to kind of hear their perspective and voice mine and here we are, back at it again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alonso, 30, wasn\u2019t helped in free agency by receiving a qualifying offer from the Mets \u2014 any other team that signed him would have had to surrender a draft pick.<\/p>\n<p>Alonso was also coming off a season in which he produced a career-low .788 OPS.<\/p>\n<p>His 34 homers were also a career low for a full season.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/new-york-mets-pete-alonso-98739370.jpg?w=683\" alt=\"Pete Alonso prepares to hit live batting practice on Monday. \" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/2025-port-st-lucie-fl-98739241.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Pete Alonso takes batting practice at Spring Training, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Port St. Lucie, FL. \" \/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But Alonso noted his satisfaction in \u201cpushing the market forward\u201d in that his $30 million salary for this season (which includes a $10 million signing bonus) will be the highest for a first baseman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s a win,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cBut also I couldn\u2019t expect something incredibly megalong because I didn\u2019t have my best year. In (2023), I didn\u2019t have my best year, either. The two years stacked up, I didn\u2019t really play to my potential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alonso said he doesn\u2019t regret shunning a long-term extension before hitting free agency: The Mets offered $158 million over seven years during the 2023 season, according to The Post\u2019s Joel Sherman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery step of my career, whether it\u2019s high school, college, minor leagues, even through my six [MLB] years, it\u2019s been you bet on yourself whether you have a contract or not,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cYou have to fight, you have to play and whether you are on a long-distance contract or not, not playing well isn\u2019t fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pete Alonso\u2019s meeting with Mets officials in Tampa two weeks ago pushed him toward a return with the club, but his desire for a reunion was also stoked elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[44,17,42,50,780],"class_list":["post-35061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-pete-alonso","tag-sports","tag-spring-training"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - 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