MLB: NLCS-Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets - Source: ImagnMLB: NLCS-Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets – Source: Imagn

In his report for USA Today, MLB insider Bob Nightengale claimed that Pete Alonso’s agent Scott Boras was leveraging a nine-year $214 million contract signed by Prince Fielder as the bar. But Jon Heyman has dismissed that claim to be false and exaggerated.

As per Heyman, writing for the New York Post, there’s no chance that Pete Alonso will receive the number of years that Fielder got in 2012. The $214 million salary brought down the annual average value of the contract to $23 million, and Alonso is looking a lot upward from that.

Gonzalez] Bob Nightengale is NOT in Arizona. Nightengale is NOT on a flight to Arizona. Nightengale is with us in Southern California. : r/baseball

“The rumor going around was that Pete Alonso is viewing Prince Fielder’s famous $214 million, nine-year deal as a comp. Not sure where that got started, but it has not a shred of truth to it,” Heyman wrote.

Moreover, no teams will be willing to offer Alonso, 30, a nine-year contract. Fielder, when he had signed with the Detroit Tigers, was 27, a lot lower than the average free agent age. All teams in contention for Alonso, as per Heyman, are looking for smaller-term contracts with opt-out clauses for the Mets infielder.

Alonso had rejected a seven-year $158 million deal with the New York Mets last season. Looking to get a bigger guarantee, he took a gamble with his 2024 performance.

However, the market for the first baseman has considerably shrinked over the years, with Freddie Freeman (six-year, $162 million) and Matt Olson (eight-year $168 million) deals being rare events of low-risk corner infielders getting big bucks.

Pete Alonso just delaying the inevitable with New York Mets

The New York Mets appear to be the most obvious destination for Pete Alonso, as the infielder has played all his MLB career in Queens.

At the start of the offseason, Alonso had rejected a three-year $90 million offer from the Mets. They signalled their intent of not offering a long-term contract to any free agent over 30 this offseason, letting go off opportunities to sign Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.

A settlement between Alonso and the Metsies seem most likely. Over the last few weeks, the Blue Jays, Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Angels have been linked with the cornerman. The Giants are the only ones among the four who don’t have a prospect from their farm system at first and are looking to do better than their primary 1B LaMonte Wade Jr.