The Mets played a dangerous game with Pete Alonso — but for now, it’s all just super

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If you’re looking for a word to capture Pete Alonso’s first day back home as a Met, ask the man himself to describe opening day at Citi Field.

The weather: “Super picturesque.”

The fans: “Super stoked.”

The energy: “Super high.”

Alonso packed all those descriptions into one answer after the Mets’ 5-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the home opener Friday. The super superlatives spilled over each other, endearingly wholesome, purely Pete.

He had marked his return — to a place he never left — with a homer in his first at-bat. Down in the count to Kevin Gausman, Alonso drove a 95 mph fastball, low and off the plate, over the right field fence. He knocked his fist against his helmet as he rounded first and exulted in a curtain call from the fans at Citi Field.

It was all just super. And yet, it made you wonder about the alternate universe the Mets entertained all winter when they could have let another team meet Alonso’s price in free agency.

In that scenario, Alonso would have been greeted by his new fans the way Juan Soto was in Queens on Friday: with polite and respectful applause, but far shy of crazy, stupid love. Every Mets fan is thrilled the team signed Soto. But every Mets fan adores the Polar Bear, partly because they know it’s mutual.

“Pete loves New York,” left fielder Brandon Nimmo said. “He loves the Mets fan base, and I’m so glad that he’s putting on a show for them. That was awesome, he puts us on the board right away. Just very much Pete — he finds the barrel and it can leave any ballpark. We love what he’s doing and we love Big Pete.”

The Mets loved Nimmo so much that they lavished him with an eight-year, $162 million contract before the 2023 season. They were so determined to land Soto last fall that they gave him the richest guarantee in baseball history at $765 million for 15 years.

They’ve also paid handsomely for Francisco Lindor (10 years, $341 million) and had no problem blowing up MLB’s pitching salary structure with Edwin Díaz (the first $100 million closer) and the departed Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander (the first $40 million per year starters).

Alonso had every right to expect his own bonanza. Owner Steve Cohen was clearly good for it, after all, and Alonso had proven himself as the National League’s preeminent power hitter. From 2019 through 2024, he bashed 226 home runs, second in the majors to the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.

But Cohen and his baseball operations team, led by David Stearns, let the market dictate Alonso’s value. They guessed correctly that Alonso could not beat the seven-year, $158 million extension he was offered in 2023 and waited for it all to play out.

In the end, just before spring training, Alonso accepted a two-year, $54 million deal that allows him to collect $30 million this season and then opt out. Maybe Cohen simply wanted — just this once — to prove he could make a low-risk, team-friendly deal with a player who never wanted to leave. And he did.

On Friday, though, it was easy to imagine a different vibe for the opener if another owner had woken up in January and decided he just had to have a 30-year-old slugging first baseman. Maybe the Mets would have caved and matched any offer. But that sure didn’t seem to be their stance.

“There was a time this offseason where things were getting pretty sticky there at the end,” Nimmo said. “So we were definitely worried.”

The Mets were aggressive with other parts of the team. Starter Clay Holmes signed just before Soto, getting three years and $38 million in early December. For more than two months, he didn’t know if he’d ever be teammates with Alonso.

“He was obviously one of the last big free agents left, so there was a lot of anticipation around it,” Holme said. “After I signed here, it sounded like people really wanted him back and really wanted it to work out. It just took a little bit longer, but he definitely makes the lineup a lot better, that’s for sure.”

Pete Alonso hit his third home run of the season to give the Mets a 2-0 first-inning lead. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)

That was clear in Miami this week when Alonso belted a grand slam on Monday and a three-run homer on Wednesday. And it was clear on Friday, even after the two-run homer. When Toronto intentionally walked Alonso after Soto doubled in the sixth, Nimmo followed by doubling them both home.

“It’s great to have a guy behind you when he’s swinging the bat well, when he’s hot,” said Soto, who made a devastating tandem with Judge in the Bronx last summer. “I think it’s really good protection. It gives me a chance to see more pitches around the strike zone and try to do more damage.”

The Mets risked damaging their brand if they had let another team poach a homegrown cornerstone. They poked the Bear — sorry — but the Bear came back, anyway. And now he is roaring.

“Honestly, envisioning coming back, for me it was just all about winning,” Alonso said. “Knowing the culture here, knowing the guys, knowing the camaraderie — you need a great combination of talent, hard work and chemistry, and obviously this place is familiar. Love it here, love playing at Citi, love being in New York.”

Alonso is an imperfect player. He strikes out a lot, he won’t win Gold Gloves and he somehow hasn’t won a Silver Slugger, either. But the home run on Friday — to the same spot as his season-saving blast in Milwaukee last October — was a reminder to focus on what a player is, and not just what he isn’t.

Alonso is a guy you buy a ticket to see. In other words: a superstar.

(Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)

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