Why he turned down a seven years contract?

New York Mets slugging first baseman Pete Alonso (30) rejected a seven-year, $158 million (approx. 214.2 billion won) extension contract in June last year, it was revealed.

The New York Post reported on June 19 (KST) that the Mets offered Alonso a seven-year, $158 million contract extension through his then-agency, Apex Baseball. He was a year and a half away from free agency.

The Mets, then under general manager Billy Eppler, used Matt Olson, who signed an eight-year, $168 million extension with the Atlanta Braves before the 2022 season, as a benchmark. Olson was two years away from free agency. The Mets offered Alonso less total money than Olson, but with a higher average annualized value.

However, Alonso’s refusal to accept the offer led to a breakdown in negotiations, and the Mets even sat down with the Chicago Cubs at the July trade deadline. 안전놀이터 But the deal never materialized, and Alonso was off the trade block under new president of baseball operations David Stearns, who took over after the season. Rumor has it that Stearns didn’t want to start his tenure by trading away the team’s most popular player.

Both Stearns and Mets owner Steve Cohen are open to signing Alonso to an extension, but there’s a major twist.

Late last year, Alonso hired “super agent” Scott Boras. Alonso entered this season as a free agent with more enthusiasm than ever, but through 19 games, he is batting just .308 with 10 home runs, 23 RBI, 17 walks, 37 strikeouts, a .454 on-base percentage and a .762 OPS in 45 games (174 at-bats).

He’s still hitting for power with 10 home runs, but his slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and OPS are all at career lows. In 16 games in May, he’s 2-for-14 (63 at-bats) with two home runs, eight RBIs, and a .692 OPS. At this rate, he won’t get the seven-year, $158 million-plus contract he rejected last year.

“A center fielder who can consistently hit 40 homers, is durable, and can also play center field defense will not be available in free agency for the next few years,” Boras said. A player with his elite level of production and durability at his prime age is not available to most teams. He’s a proven player in New York.”

Boras is not exaggerating. Alonso, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound right-handed slugger, burst onto the scene in 2019, leading the National League (NL) in home runs (53) in his rookie year. In six seasons through this year, he’s batted .275 (675-for-275) with 202 home runs, 521 RBIs, a .340 OBP, .523 slugging percentage, and an .863 OPS in 729 games, and has been named an All-Star three times.

He has been a consistent home run producer since 2019, with 37 in 2021, 40 in 2022, and 46 in 2023.

He’s also healthy, having missed only 24 games since his rookie year, with a 96.8% fielding percentage. However, despite his 46 home runs last year, his batting production dipped to a .821 batting average (123-for-568) and .821 OPS, and this year has been even worse. He’s becoming more and more of a free agent, and it’s doubtful any team will be willing to give him a long-term deal.

Even with super-agent Boras by his side, teams aren’t so easily swayed anymore. Last winter, Cody Bellinger (Chicago Cubs – 3 years, $80 million), Blake Snell (San Francisco Giants – 2 years, $62 million), Matt Chapman (San Francisco – 3 years, $54 million), 에볼루션 바카라사이트 Jordan Montgomery (Arizona Diamondbacks – 1 year, $25 million), and other big free agents were treated like dirt and had to settle for deals that fell short of their expectations. Alonso is likely to follow the same path if he doesn’t rebound significantly over the rest of the season.