MLB rumors: A real threat to steal Pete Alonso from the NY Mets

Pete Alonso’s free agent market won’t suddenly pick up. However, the added MLB rumors post-New Year’s Day regarding interest from the Los Angeles Angels should have the New York Mets more strongly considering the possibility of his departure.

The Angels have been one of the more active teams this offseason with several early strikes. Signing Yusei Kikuchi after such a strong finish should be considered a win for them. They’re going to give Kyle Hendricks a shot to prove the Chicago Cubs wrong for moving on (he won’t). For better or worse, Jorge Soler will be a member of the roster.

An unappealing destination in the eyes of many baseball fans, the Angels are a real threat to the Mets for all of the wrong reasons.

The Angels are the exact spot where Pete Alonso can go and be forgotten

Is there a team out there that loves to overpay for players more than the Angels? Somehow even the Mike Trout extension has turned into an albatross deal. They still have Anthony Rendon. Legend has it if you listen very carefully you can still hear them paying Albert Pujols to be a shell of his former self.

If Arte Moreno was a more likable owner, perhaps we could feel some sympathy. The team has the longest drought in MLB despite the pocketbook opening up. Poor management of the personnel even with Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the roster for several years and no postseason to show for it, the Angels are the baseball equivalent of the New York Jets where even when they seem to do what’s right it doesn’t go their way.

Playing in California doesn’t help the Angels in free agency when it comes to tax consideration. It’s likely one of the same reasons the San Francisco Giants, another perceived Alonso suitor, can’t seem to land top names. The Los Angeles Dodgers have found a way to circumnavigate tax penalties with deferrals, most notably with the deal they struck with Ohtani. Alonso, who has always seemed on a mission to sign with the highest bidder, probably wants his money now.

It’s not completely unusual for a top free agent to end up with a team in baseball purgatory. Not long ago, Kris Bryant was a guy even Mets fans considered. He has been relegated to irrelevancy on the Colorado Rockies roster with much of his time there sidelined with injuries. Rendon, whom Alonso would be teaming up with if he did sign with the Angels, is another one of those guys who appeared on the rise only to disappear into no man’s land and become more of a punchline than perennial All-Star.

Mets fans seem to have accepted Alonso is going after the most money possible and won’t fault him even if a deal with the Angels comes to pass. Boy, wouldn’t it be a sad way to end if they’re unable to become relevant again?

If there’s any team out there that will come close to the kind of long-term offer out there Alonso is seeking, it’s the consistently irresponsible Angels. What better way for Moreno to think he’s getting one over on Steve Cohen than to overpay for another slugger who might play well on a 75 win team but do little else?