The Pete Alonso sweepstakes has been a complete roller-coaster ride this winter.
Projecting where the slugger will land is harder now than it’s ever been. While the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, and incumbent New York Mets are all in the race, nobody has landed the star first baseman.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post recently suggested a dark horse National League team could emerge in the Alonso sweepstakes. Heyman suggested the Cincinnati Reds could steal Alonso from the Mets.
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“How about long-shot Reds as a Pete landing spot? Could the Reds pursue Pete Alonso? It’s probably a long shot, but with Alonso’s market not developing as expected, the word is Cincinnati may consider it,” Heyman wrote. “It’s unusual for a star free agent to go from baseball’s biggest market to its smallest (tied with Milwaukee). But Cincinnati, with its smallish ballpark, might be a nice spot for Alonso to re-establish value on a deal with early opt-outs.”
This idea is quite the longshot, as Heyman notes.
The Reds don’t typically spend the kind of money it would take to bring in Alonso, especially on a shorter-term deal. Cincinnati has already been rather aggressive this winter by bringing back Nick Martinez and signing Austin Hays. Adding a deal with Alonso for nearly $30 million a year would be quite the step up in spending.
From Alonso’s point of view, it could make sense. Playing in Great American Ballpark would almost guarantee he slugs nearly 50 home runs in 2025. If he can land a three-year deal with opt-outs after year one and year two, this would make a lot of sense for the Polar Bear.
In this scenario, the best case for Alonso is slugging 50 home runs in year one, opting out of the deal with the Reds, and landing a mega contract elsewhere next offseason.
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