3 players the Mets must demand from the Brewers in any Pete Alonso trade negotiation
The Mets should demand a lot for their power-hitting first baseman.
Don’t believe everything you hear. While David Stearns introduced himself to New York Mets fans as the President of Baseball Operations, he brushed aside the Pete Alonso trade rumors with some “GM speak.” It has been widely reported how interested other teams were in acquiring Alonso at this summer’s trade deadline. We shouldn’t expect those rumors to disappear so quickly.
What are the odds the Mets actually trade Alonso? My heart tells me none. My head tells me Wayne Gretzky. In the right deal, anyone can be traded.
One of the teams reportedly interested in Alonso was Stearns’ former employer, the Milwaukee Brewers. If those talks resume, the Mets need to demand at least one of these players in return for their powerful first baseman.
1) Jackson Chourio
Jackson Chourio is one of those guys Brewers fans are going to hate to see subtracted from the system. That’s the price you pay for a proven MLB slugger. The 19-year-old had a huge year spent mostly in Double-A with a few sips of coffee in Triple-A before the season ended. He smashed 22 home runs, stole 44 bases, and did so with a .283/.338/.467 slash line. He also happens to play the premium position of center field.
Chourio is considered the number two prospect in all of baseball which puts him out of reach for the Mets if all they’re sending to Milwaukee is Alonso, right? Because the Polar Bear is free agent eligible after the 2024 season and Chourio already has a major league ETA for next year, this would have to be a trade filled with multiple pieces. The Brewers would need at least one more win-now type of player or major prospect in the deal. The Mets would probably like to have a more controllable piece or two in the deal as well.
Pulling Chourio away from Milwaukee easily won’t happen considering their typically lower-than-average payroll. Future superstars like him will be needed in order to allow them to compete with a club like the Mets who can buy anything they’d want.
Chourio isn’t going to happen. Maybe this other prospect could.
2) Jacob Misiorowski
Ranked third in the Brewers’ system and 36th in all of MLB, Jacob Misiorowski is going to have a lot of callers to sports radio stations confused as to how to pronounce his name. Good thing you don’t have to pass a spelling test to get on-air.
The 6’7 righty didn’t have a standout season in the minors this past year, but showed promise. He combined to go 4-2 with a 3.41 ERA at three different levels. He hit a bit of a roadblock in Double-A which isn’t too much of a concern.
Misiorowski is the kind of pitcher who is either going to figure it out or not. He has been wild in his professional career, averaging 6.9 walks per 9. It does come with an outstanding strikeout rate of 13.9 per 9 innings. Finding some sense of control will be key for this young kid. He walked as many batters as hits he gave up in 2023. Through his first 73 professional innings, Misiorowski has allowed only a pair of home runs. At the very least, he seems on track to end up in someone’s bullpen.
When it comes to some sort of a blockbuster trade between the Mets and Brewers involving Alonso, Misiorowski seems like a more expected headliner in the deal. Chourio seems to have things figured out. Misiorowski has a few more things to work on.
There are definitely more prospects the Mets could look at within the Milwaukee system. However, the third player they should demand in any Alonso trade comes from the big league roster.
3) Corbin Burnes
If life followed fantasy baseball rules, Corbin Burnes for Alonso would happen. It makes too much sense not to. Both hit the open market after 2024. The Mets need an arm like Burnes. The Brewers need a bat like Alonso. Could it be any more obvious?
Needless to say, a one-for-one swap in our non-fantasy baseball run world is out of the question. There are too many problems. What could work is for another Mets pitcher to get thrown into the deal along with a bat from the Milwaukee roster. Rowdy Tellez? Jose Quintana? Eh, we might need to start piling names into the trade machine and see when the numbers get more equal on both sides.
There is little doubt Stearns will have interest in bringing Burnes to the Mets at some point given how successful he has been in his career with the Brewers. Striking a trade with the Brewers remains a possibility. More realistically, the Mets wait and see if he reaches free agency and they can simply pay him.
Nevertheless, if the Brewers are going to inquire about Alonso, the conversation needs to include the 2021 National League Cy Young winner. We shouldn’t expect it. We can still demand a valuable piece like him. Stearns and the GM he eventually hires should play hardball when it comes to any Alonso negotiation.