The New York Mets’ offseason has been quite active. Of course, there’s the Juan Soto mega contract, the largest contract ever in professional sports history, but they’ve re-signed Sean Manaea, added Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas, and traded for Jose Siri. But there is still plenty of off-season and a lot of free agents still out there.
A handful of those free agents played with the Mets in 2024. The Mets’ depth chart took a big hit at the end of the season because so many players hit the open market. So, where can Mets fans expect some of these players to end up for the 2025 season?
1) Pete Alonso
Pete Alonso has become one of baseball’s best power hitters. Since making his debut in 2019, he has 226 home runs, which is surpassed by just one other batter: Aaron Judge. Alonso is coming off a relatively down season for his typically lofty standards. But he still had a solid season with the stick.
Alonso turned in a .240/.329/.459 triple-slash through 695 plate appearances. His 34 home runs was a career-low mark (not including the 2020 season), as was his .219 isolated slugging percentage. Alonso also struck out in about a quarter of his plate appearances with a 24.7% K% but drew walks at a 10.1% rate. Alonso still had an outstanding 13% barrel percentage, along with a .470 xSLG%.
Alonso has never been a Gold Glove-caliber defender at first base but is coming off a career-worst year with -3 defensive runs saved and -8 outs above average. But he has graded out much better at the position in the past. In 2023, he had +6 DRS and only -1 OAA. UZR/150 has always seen him as a roughly average defender as well, at just -0.7.
Alonso’s potential destinations are shrinking. The Houston Astros added Christian Walker, and the Arizona Diamondbacks filled that void by trading for Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians, who subsequently signed Carlos Santana directly after trading Naylor. The Washington Nationals traded for Nathaniel Lowe from the Texas Rangers, who filled that void when they traded for Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins. The New York Yankees also signed Paul Goldschmidt, which likely closed the door for Alonso to sign there. The Mets are one of the very few teams left who have the money and the need at first base Alonso can fill.