Back in 2019, the Wilpons hired Brodie Van Wagenen as GM. Knowing what we know now, their previous financial situation was going to force them to sell, and Van Wagenen’s directive was apparently to get the Wilpons a World Series trophy with zero regard to the future of the franchise.
During this time, Van Wagenen strip mined the Mets farm system. Most of the trades made zero to no sense. Who else remembers the Keon Broxton trade?
Worse than any of that was putting Pete Alonso on the Opening Day roster.
We heard the platitudes. You do the right thing. You can’t risk losing games in April while Alonso is in Vegas. Your owe your fans the best possible roster with the best 25 players.
It sounded good, but like most things with the Wilpons, it was pure BS. They were lying, and they didn’t care about the long term ramifications because they wouldn’t own the team then.
Yes, Alonso being up at the beginning of the season allowed Alonso to break Aaron Judge’s rookie home run record. It certainly helped Alonso win Rookie of the Year.
Make no mistake. This all meant a lot to Mets fans at the time. Alonso deserved all of it. Still, it made little to no sense.
Remember at that trade deadline, the Wilpons (shockingly) went cheap and did not address the bullpen or the bench. The Washington Nationals would, and they would beat out the Mets for the Wild Card en route to winning the World Series.
The Mets were “all-in” when it came to Robinson Cano. They were all-in when it came to giving up a year of control to Alonso. They weren’t all-in when it came to finishing the roster at the trade deadline.
Those two weeks are bow proving far more damaging than we ever could have imagined.
Right now, Alonso should be locked in for the 2025 season as the first baseman. They could’ve had the luxury of having him securely in place as the Mets worked around the edges to make this a World Series contending roster.
Instead, they have to address Alonso and his power production while sureing up their rotation, bullpen, and outfield.
It’s not like the Steve Cohen led Mets haven’t tried. They offered Alonso a seven year $158 million extension. Alonso, now represented by Scott Boras, turned it down.
The Mets tried, but Alonso wanted more. There is no blame here on either side. That goes double with Alonso, who will likely only get one true crack at free agency.
Just remember, the Mets are in this spot because of the Wilpons. Instead of Alonso and Juan Soto, the Mets may be in an either/or situation. Worse yet, they may not sign either player.
This has also created the unfortunate circumstance of having to debate the merits of keeping Alonso. It feels dirty and wrong to point out he’s lost some exit velocity and barrels.
He’s a player who is leaving his peak, and you don’t want to be on the hook for big dollars. Worse yet, with his defense, he will be a DH sooner rather than later. That will mean big bucks to a reluctant DH who may not be anywhere near this caliber of power hitter midway through his next deal.
The best thing for the Mets was to keep Alonso another year and see if he rebounded from the 2024 regular season. They needed to see if he was the player reborn in the postseason.
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1842019321888821370?s=46&t=C-cAjvMjkzGA7iCb6Xr6ng
Sadly, that won’t happen because the Wilpons tried to mortgage everything to win the 2019 World Series. However, they were too over leveraged to actually accomplish that goal.
Now, we are pondering life without Alonso. We’re pondering if it makes sense to keep him. We’re pondering if the money for him is better spent on other players.
We’re doing all of this when Alonso should be a Met in 2025. However, he’s not because of another Wilpon grift. Hopefully, this will be the very last time the Wilpons can ever harm this franchise, its players, or the fans ever again.
This makes no sense, it’s just a mechanism for you to still complain about the Wilpons.
Had the Mets kept Alonso in the minors to start the season, the complaints would have cried cheap Wilpons too for gaining another year of control.
The decision to call up Alonso to start the season was a baseball decision. Your efforts here seem like a gimmick for attention especially since Alonso turned down an extension, and Mets could also have offered him an extension early in Cohen’s tenure, after 2021 or 2022, and he’d still be here under that contract.
Chances are Alonso remains a Met. Win a championship with the Mets.
Other than the Dodgers who have a Hall of Fame first baseman, is there a better place for Alonso to play than the Mets whom he already loves, provides him all the tools and atmosphere for success, and gives him future opportunity to compete for a championship? The Phils maybe if Harper goes back to the outfield which isn’t sustainable long term at 32 with an ailing body. Or perhaps the Yankees who could have opening at first base but may lose Soto.
Furthermore, the decision is Alonso’s. If he wants to return, he’ll continue to be a Met.
If he doesn’t return, we’ll mourn and move on and consider Tyler Clippard as heir in 2026 as he refines his hitting and plate approach in 2025. I would even pitch Soto to become first baseman, a conundrum for Boras who has A;lonso and Soto as clients. Conundrum for Stearns and Cohen too. Soto as first baseman opens up the outfield for speedy, dynamic player both short and long term and makes the Mets a better team.
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I said it then, and I’ll forever say it.
Every smart team maximizes control over players, and this was no different.
Defending the Wilpons on this or anything is laughable.
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