New York Mets Made Contract Extension Offer to Superstar Last Season

The New York Mets reportedly made a contract extension offer to their superstar slugger last season.

May 13, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) hits a / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets made an attempt to extend their superstar slugger last season, but were unsuccessful.

According to Joel Sherman of The New York Post, the Mets offered first baseman Pete Alonso a deal hovering around seven-years for $158 million before the trade deadline last season. Alonso turned down the contract offer, and decided to follow in New York Yankees superstar outfielder Aaron Judge's footsteps by betting on himself in a walk-year, as Judge did in 2022 before landing a nine-year, $360 million deal last year to remain in the Bronx for the foreseeable future.

As Inside the Mets reported in September, Mets & Pete Alonso talked contract extension last season and were close on money but apart on years. Alonso was asking for 9-10 years
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— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) May 14, 2024

Inside the Mets reported last September the Mets and Alonso were close financially, but differed on the length of the contract. The source also reported Alonso's side of the negotiation was seeking a 10-year term length – three years longer than the offer the organization presented.

Sherman recently reported the details on Alonso's contract offer in a column for The Post. He revisited the topic with fellow New York Post insider Jon Heyman while interviewing former Mets team president and GM Sandy Alderson in the latest episode of their baseball podcast The Show.

Alonso left his agency in the offseason and hired Boras Corp to represent him, as super agent Scott Boras comes along with a highly esteemed résumé when it comes to getting his clients life changing contracts.

Alonso is shooting to become one of, if not the highest paid first basemen in the history of the game, and no slugger has hit more home runs or driven in more runs since he entered the league in 2019.

The 29-year-old has made it clear that his goal is to be a Met for life and he is hoping to go down as the best player in franchise history. Should he stick around in Queens for the long haul, he will likely become the all-time home run leader for the Mets, as he currently sits in fourth place beind Darryl Strawberry (252), David Wright (242) and Mike Piazza (220).

Alonso is off to a bit of a slow start this season through 41 games, slashing .226/.309/.452 with a .761 OPS, nine home runs and 22 RBIs. However, he is beginning to heat up as of late, hitting .333/.385/.685 with a 1.070 OPS and a homer in his past seven games.