Pete Alonso seemed shocked that this season had come to an end, and he might be ending his time with the New York Mets as well.
“I’m just kind of shell-shocked that the season’s over, because once you get on this postseason run, you kind of don’t really think that it’s going to end ever because we overcame so much and we perform really well in big spots,” Alonso said after the Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-5 in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series.
Alonso had a batting average of .273 with four home runs and 10 RBIs during the postseason. After making $20.5 million this year, the first baseman is now eligible for free agency for the first time and will turn 30 in December.
“I love this team. I love this organization. This fanbase has treated not just myself, but my family so, so well,” Alonso said. “I love New York. I love this team. I love playing in Queens.
This group is really special and the memories that we’ve created together are just, like, wow. This is why we play baseball, to be able to get to have that togetherness, to be able to go far, face adversity and overcome it. … I want more and more moments like this.”
The season started tough for New York, as they began 0-5 and were 22-33 before a players-only meeting in late May after being swept by the Dodgers. The Mets turned things around and finished the season 89-73, clinching the NL’s final wild card spot with a win in Atlanta on the last day of the regular season.
They rallied in the ninth inning of Game 3 to win the NL Wild Card Series and then upset the NL East champion Philadelphia in the Division Series, reaching the LCS for the first time since 2015.
“It’s not easy to come through so much adversity, but we kept finding ways to get the job done,” first-year manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case this series. Now we’re going home. But, like I said, this should be our expectations moving forward every year; we should be playing games deep into October.”
In the fourth season after Steve Cohen purchased the Mets from the Wilpons, New York had the highest payroll in Major League Baseball at $332 million and is expected to pay a $96 million luxury tax.
Pitchers Jose Quintana and Luis Severino could also become free agents, and Sean Manaea has a player option that he might decline to become a free agent.
“It was an amazing roller-coaster,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “We accomplished a lot as a team, as individuals. We became family. We overcame a lot of things and we stuck together, so I truly believe there is something good happening here. It doesn’t feel good to lose. It’s going to sit here with me for a while, but I feel like this year made me a better person, a player, and I’ve grown a lot.”
Lindor is signed through 2031, and outfielder Brandon Nimmo is signed through 2030. Nimmo hopes Alonso will sign a new contract with the Mets.
“He means a lot to the fanbase and to this team, and we’d love to see him back here,” Nimmo said, “but also going through that process, I understand that it is a business and he will end up doing what’s best for him and his family.”
Nimmo mentioned that having stability with president of baseball operations David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza in their second year will help compared to last offseason.
“I really think that this is kind of the jumping-off point. We want to set this as a standard now,” Nimmo said. “There’s no surprising people.
I think people are going to be a little more wary of us next year to start things off, and that comes with its own territory, where everybody’s going to have their A-game on to try and beat you.”
J.D. Martinez, another possible free agent, looked forward to the main group returning. When asked about his future, the 37-year-old simply replied, “Pickleball.”
