Livescore
After a long and tense negotiation, the Mets and Pete Alonso finally came to terms on an agreement earlier this week.
As we’ve learned, the slugging first baseman left a larger three-year pact from the Mets on the table, instead returning on a two-year, $54 million deal with an opt-out.
A reunion always made too much sense for it to not happen, but it wasn’t always clear that we’d reach that point.
In fact, talks quieted for quite some time before owner Steve Cohen voiced his frustration at the team’s Amazin’ Day event, saying it’s been a “long and exhausting conversation,” and he didn’t like what was being presented to them.
Days later, the two sides were back at the table.
Then on Tuesday, Cohen called for an in-person meeting between himself, David Stearns, and Alonso’s camp down in Tampa to talk things over and hash things out.
“I wanted to humanize the negotiations,” Cohen told Jon Heyman of the New York Post. “I wanted him to hear it straight from me — two humans having a real conversation — I was clear. I told him, I want you back. We want you back.”
That ultimately was the breakthrough they needed, as it became clear that Alonso felt the same way, and the two sides were back in business shortly after — with SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino breaking the news of the agreement on Wednesday night.
The 30-year-old now returns to a place where he’s comfortable playing and beloved by the fan base, and he’ll have the opportunity to hit in a lineup with two of the biggest stars in the game — Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto.
The hope, coming off a down year at the plate, is that he’ll be able to return to the dominant form he showed down the stretch during last year’s postseason run.
“Now he just has to be Pete and go do his thing,” Cohen told Deesha Thosar of FOX Sports. “Hopefully, he’s more relaxed now — not saying he wasn’t relaxed — but hopefully he can go focus on what he does and enjoy the season with his teammates. Let’s go win something.”
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