NEWSLETTER
When the New York Mets reportedly made Pete Alonso available at the Trade Deadline, I’ll cop to getting awfully excited. The fit for the Cubs at that time was just so obvious – a huge bat that transforms the lineup and plays first base, where the Cubs had a clear hole – that I felt he could be a true difference-maker down the stretch.
Alas, we later learned that the Mets weren’t REALLY making Alonso available, shy of an obscene return, and that wasn’t going to happen. The Cubs did talk to the Mets about him, but again, it was not a sensible trade opportunity at the time, apparently, based on price tag.
With the regular season over and still no extension between the Mets and Alonso, who enters his walk year in 2024, you knew the rumors would pop back up. Sure enough, Bruce Levine yesterday reported that the Cubs were going to do “everything they can” to acquire Alonso this offseason.
And if that didn’t make it feel real enough, today ESPN’s Jesse Rogers said on Kap and J. Hood on ESPN 1000 that he believes the Cubs will be looking at big trades this offseason, and Pete Alonso is “on the radar, there’s no doubt about it.” The reason he’s as much on the radar for the Cubs as anyone else, according to Rogers’ sources, is because Alonso WANTS to come to the Cubs. Hello.
If that’s true that Alonso would like to come to the Chicago Cubs, and if the Cubs know it’s true, then they might be more willing to send the Mets a decent package to acquire Alonso just one year before free agency – because the thinking would be that then they would sign him to a long-term deal.
You have to be a little careful in those situations not to overextend on the trade return because, strictly speaking, you are only getting the one year. But if he’s a guy you like long-term anyway, and if you have reasons to believe his demands to you on an extension would be reasonable, you might pull the trigger if you’d been on the fence. I liked hearing this from Rogers very much.
There are, of course, caveats aplenty. For one, we know that Alonso’s reported extension demands have been sufficiently sizable that the Steve Cohen-led Mets have blanched. For another, the Mets have a new president in David Stearns who may value Alonso completely differently than those who were in charge previously. For still another, as Jed Hoyer said today at his season-ending press conference, you can enter into an offseason with your Plans A, B, and C, but things happen, winds shift, and you might have to pivot quickly. You cannot assume you’ll land the guy you want, especially in trade.
But if it does work out to land Alonso, again, the fit is just so obvious. While the Cubs have some interesting young players coming up through the system at first base, none has yet shown for sure he’s a long-term starter in the big leagues, much less something akin to having Pete Alonso over there. I don’t think that’s an insult to Matt Mervis or Haydn McGeary or Brian Kalmer or anyone else. And, at 28/29, with a consistent track record of success, you could potentially bank on Alonso being a difference-making bat at first base for another half-decade or more.
The Cubs desperately need to add a power bat to this lineup, regardless of whether they can find a way to retain Cody Bellinger. And if they lose Bellinger, oh mercy do they need a serious bat.
We know that Alonso is potentially going to be made available. We know that the fit is so strong. So, yes, of course Alonso is on the radar. And if Rogers is right that Alonso wants to be in Chicago long-term, all the more reason to hit up the Mets sooner rather than later.
Alonso hit 46 homers this year, but his slash line left something to be desired at a superficial glance: .217/.318/.504/121 wRC+ (the lowest of his career in a full season). But his batted ball metrics were as good as ever, his walk rate was normal, his strikeout rate was up only slightly, and his .205 BABIP seems like the culprit for the reduced slash. Based on the batted ball quality, that feels like a fluke. All the more reason to pounce now …
