Mets win staring contest with Scott Boras, bring Pete Alonso back on short-term deal

Somebody had to blink first.

For months, Mets owner Steve Cohen and mega-agent Scott Boras were locked in a high-stakes staring contest over first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso, a first-time free agent, was seeking a long-term pact commensurate with his status as one of the game’s top power hitters.

In June 2023, while represented by a different agency, Alonso turned down a seven-year, $158 million extension. His hiring of Boras in October of that year was supposed to ensure a more massive payday.

But the market never materialized.

By New Year’s Day, it was clear that Alonso, 30, would be forced to settle for a shorter deal. Even though his 226 home runs since the start of 2019 rank second in MLB behind only Aaron Judge, teams harbored doubts about whether Alonso could maintain his level of offensive impact moving forward. An underwhelming platform season served as another knock on his profile. The once-upon-a-time dream of surpassing Freddie Freeman’s $162 million contract faded into dust as his free-agency saga trudged forward without a conclusion.

A month ago, the Mets — owned by Cohen, one of the world’s 100 richest people — made a final offer in the three-year, $70 million range. Boras and Alonso balked. That Boras had successfully steered three other clients to Queens this very offseason, including the record-breaking, $765 million outlay for superstar Juan Soto, didn’t matter. Speaking to fans at a panel, Cohen called the negotiations “exhausting.” Yet beneath all the discord, a reunion remained the likeliest outcome.

And in the end, Boras (and Alonso) blinked first.

On Wednesday, the two sides agreed to a two-year, $54 million deal. Notably, the contract includes an opt-out after the upcoming season, one that will almost certainly see Alonso retest the open market next winter. That style of deal has become commonplace for Boras clients who can’t secure long-term agreements.

For the Mets, this is an enormous win. Alonso is one of the best players in franchise history, whose heroics last postseason solidified his lore. His return gives the team one of the most formidable lineups in the National League. The trio of Alonso, Soto and Francisco Lindor should rival the Dodgers’ three-headed monster of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

What's more, Alonso’s unique flavor of wholesome intensity was a positive, impactful force in the Mets clubhouse. People like him, and he’s really good. Fans should be ecstatic. Quite simply, the four-time All-Star gives the 2025 Mets a better shot to win the World Series.

For Cohen, in the long term, there’s potentially enormous benefit in his standing firm on Alonso’s price. Since purchasing his boyhood favorite franchise in 2020, Cohen has invested outrageous sums of money in the Mets. His investment in Soto is the single largest contract in sports history. Yet, with Alonso, he drew a line in the sand. The message was clear: Cohen does not want to be treated like a bottomless piggy bank. It’s the same ruthlessness that helped propel the bespectacled sexagenarian to immeasurable success in the hedge fund world.

But for Boras, one of the game’s more compelling characters, Alonso’s relatively paltry windfall is a rough look. The slugging first baseman ditched his old agency because he believed Boras was his best chance at a major payday. And while Alonso’s flawed 2024 season complicated his free agency, Boras simply didn’t deliver. He can spin the outcome as a win — sure, $30 million a year is a nice chunk of change — but it’s another reminder that Boras’ strategy of waiting teams out doesn’t always work.

Last winter, four Boras clients — Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Matt Chapman and Jordan Montgomery — waited deep into the offseason to sign. All four settled for short-term deals that included opt-outs. Alex Bregman, another Boras client, remains on the open market the week before pitchers and catchers are due to report. The Soto megadeal was historic, impressive and all the other descriptors you want to use, but it’s tough to grade the Alonso situation as anything but a loss for Boras.

For Alonso, the outcome is unfortunate but not disastrous. He loves being a Met. He doesn’t have to move. He’s going to make $30 million this year, the second-largest average annual value ever for a first baseman. If he rakes this season, he’ll opt out and try again next winter in a weaker free-agent class.

But the passing of time will only hurt Alonso's profile. Even if he has a stellar 2025, teams might not change their calculus. He already left more than $100 million on the table. And while he has been one of MLB’s sturdiest players — he ranks second in games played since his debut — injuries are an unpredictable beast lurking in the shadows. There are no guarantees.

A two-year, $54 million deal for a hitter of Alonso’s level feels like a typo. Yet, it’s telling that a more satisfying figure never emerged. The game has changed. Players were once paid for their accomplishments, their track records, their past production. Not anymore.

Now, clubs pay according to how they project players to produce moving forward. Alonso’s sparkling past mattered much less than the uncertainty about his future.