MLB insider shares huge prediction about Mets' Pete Alonso

At least one MLB insider remains unconvinced that the New York Mets will hold onto All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso through the entire 2024 season. 

"The New York Mets, after spending a record $374.7M on their payroll last season, will not sign a marquee free agent the rest of the winter and will put All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso on the trade block in July," Bob Nightengale of USA Today predicted over the weekend.

Alonso is on track to reach free agency this coming fall, hired Scott Boras as his new agent shortly after the 2023 regular season ended and seemingly isn't all that close to signing an extension with the Mets before players report for spring training in February. ESPN MLB insider Kiley McDaniel recently suggested that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns would only get "a prospect that ranks in the 101-200 area of a prospect list" in return for Alonso, in part because the 29-year-old may only be a rental for any team that would look to land him before he hits the open market. 

Stearns repeatedly said throughout the fall he does not "anticipate" trading Alonso anytime soon. 

"Money may bring happiness in the real world, but Mets owner Steve Cohen rudely discovered it can bring on misery in baseball," Nightengale added about the 2023 edition of the Mets going 75-87. "Cohen could have hired anyone to write checks but hired president David Stearns as president of baseball operations in an attempt to make the Mets the (Los Angeles Dodgers) of the East."

Cohen and company missed out on both two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in free agency, while the New York Yankees acquired All-Star outfielder Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres in December. The big-spending owner may want to think twice before he signs off on Stearns trading Alonso, a fan-favorite who has hit more regular-season home runs (192) than any other player since Opening Day 2019.