Many Mets fans attempted to send a message to the front office about Pete Alonso.
The front office redirected the message to Scott Boras.
During a panel appearance at a fanfest at Citi Field, Steve Cohen was “brutally honest,” he said, in explaining the hold-up concerning Alonso’s free agency: The Mets owner is unhappy about the nature of the offers he has received from Alonso’s camp and said the team is ready to move on without its slugging first baseman if necessary.
Cohen, speaking after president of baseball operations David Stearns was drowned out by “Re-sign Pete” chants from a sizable portion of the fans in the building, said the club has made a “significant offer” to Alonso and not received a counteroffer to its liking.
“Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. [Juan] Soto was tough, this is worse,” Cohen said at “Amazin’ Day” on Saturday. “I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. I think it’s highly asymmetric against us, and I feel strongly about it.
“And so I will never say “no” — there’s always a possibility — but the reality is, we’re moving forward. As we continue to bring in players, the reality is it becomes harder to fit Pete into what is a very expensive group of players that we already have.”
The Post has reported that the Mets made Alonso (and Boras, his agent) a three-year deal worth about $68-70 million, which Alonso’s camp rejected.
Cohen did not detail the structures offered back to the Mets, but if Boras uses the same blueprint as he utilized with Cody Bellinger, it would be a front-loaded deal with opt-outs.
When the Mets’ offer was turned down in mid-January, they acted as if Alonso would not return to the team in re-signing Jesse Winker, bringing in A.J. Minter and asking Mark Vientos and Brett Baty to take ground balls at first base this offseason.
“We also feel really good about the young players who are coming through our system,” said Stearns, who was cut off by a crowd who has loved Alonso for six seasons.
Cohen then took the microphone.
“I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us,” Cohen said in a rare bit of public transparency (or public posturing) mid-negotiation. “Maybe that changes, and certainly I’ll always be flexible. If it stays this way, I think we’re going to have to get used to the fact that we might have to go forward with the existing players that we have.”
