The “exhausting” contract negotiations between Pete Alonso and Mets owner Steve Cohen finally ended two weeks ago and it seems that Alonso just needed to do the arrangements all along.
After Cohen decided the negotiations had gone on long enough, he and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns flew down to Tampa to meet with Alonso and his agent Scott Boras.
“I just wanted to make sure that [Alonso] heard from us how we felt about him,” Cohen told Mets broadcaster Howie Rose on the “Meet at the Apple” podcast.
Sources told The Post that Alonso and Cohen had not spoken directly in any way prior to this meeting, meaning that every single tidbit of discussion around Alonso’s future with the Mets came through Boras.
When they all met in Tampa, though, things were different.
“Had a great conversation over a few hours and, frankly, Pete did all the talking,” Cohen said. “Scott didn’t say a freakin’ word the whole time.”
“I just want to make sure you’re still breathing over there,” Cohen said in reference to Boras’ silence during the meeting.
Before agreeing on the two-year, $54 million contract, Alonso was looking for a deal with longer security.
While Cohen and Stearns wanted to retain Alonso, his and Boras’ demands did not line up with what the Mets were willing to offer.
Cohen had mentioned that the negotiations with Boras, who also represents Juan Soto, were “highly asymmetric against [the Mets]” and that he felt “strongly about it.”
“We wanted [Alonso] back,” Cohen said. “He’s been a great Met for a long time, he’s a fan favorite, and I thought there was a real opportunity to sit down with him and kind of hash it out.”
Connecting face to face with Alonso, helped get the job done.
The Mets secured the short-term deal they were looking for after Alonso struggled this past season, while Alonso gets an opt-out option after year one in case he and Boras would like to hit the open market again.
“I’m really excited for him to chase down the Met home run record this year. I think the fans are really going to be into it,” Cohen said. “He finishes off, what I think, a great lineup.”
