New York Yankees Reportedly Never Had Interest in Free Agent Slugger From Rival

The New York Yankees were reportedly never interested in a free agent home run hitter from their hated rival despite the two sides being linked.

Oct 18, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) reacts scoring a run during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game five of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

After the New York Yankees lost Juan Soto to their hated crosstown rival New York Mets, many expected a retaliatory spending spree from the Bronx Bombers in order to make up for the loss of arguably the best hitter in baseball.

That spending spree came with the additions of Max Fried on a massive deal, plus a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers for Devin Williams and eventual acquisitions of Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger.

Despite the Yankees showing aggressiveness and willingness to make upgrades following the Soto development, there's at least one free agent who they were heavily linked to but apparently never had any interest.

When it was the Mets who stole Soto, one of the first ways many suspected New York could fight back was by snagging a star of theirs by signing home run-hitting first baseman Pete Alonso.

The fit made sense at the time with the Yankees in need of a first baseman to go along with the added bonus of taking a fan favorite from Queens while the Soto wound was still fresh.

Despite that, a new article from Jorge Castillo of ESPN stated the team "never had interest" in Alonso before they eventually landed on Goldschmidt after a failed trade attempt with the Cleveland Guardians for Josh Naylor.

Ironically, Alonso, who was expected to be one of the highest paid free agents on the market, remains available as negotiations continue between him and the Mets.

Hearing the Yankees never had any interest is notable for a few reasons.

For one, it confirms Alonso's market was artificially inflated from the start likely by Scott Boras. But it also says something about the Polar Bear. While New York aggressively pursued Josh Naylor, they didn't have any interest in Alonso.

Of course, the four-time All-Star is a tremendous home run hitter. Since he entered the league in 2019, only Aaron Judge has hit more moonshots than Alonso's 226. He has power numbers that have the potential to change any lineup he steps into.

That being said, Alonso is simply not the elite hitter both he and his agent wanted him to be paid like.

Coming off the worst season of his career in terms of WAR as well as posting a career-low OPS of .788, paying Alonso a huge contract in response to losing Soto was never a good idea.

It seems Brian Cashman and company felt the same way, and as it turns out, Yankees fans who didn't want to see the team spend on Alonso never had anything to worry about.

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