It is a rare occasion when the perception of a franchise and the trust by its fans rely on one crucial decision made by ownership, but this is certainly one of those occasions…

Just this past trade deadline in the MLB, the New York Mets were clearly deadline sellers, as they shipped off key parts of their squad such as Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robinson, and even Mark Canha. The Mets have been a huge disappointment this year after a 101 win season last year, and are definitely failing expectations made by fans and even ownership for 2023. Amidst all of these moves the Mets made,there was one trade rumor that personally gave me the chills even hearing it. The Mets were entertaining a possible trade of their star first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso is set to become a free agent following the conclusion of the 2024 season. There were reports swirling around that the Cubs and Brewers had serious trade offers and discussions with the Mets to acquire the polar bear from the Mets. While to maybe a regular fan of baseball, seeing the current situation with the Mets this season, trading Alonso during this offseason would actually make sense for the Mets being that they would be saving money and Alonso’s value is very high at the moment. On the other hand, this is something the Mets shouldn’t do, or even entertain quite frankly.

Since debuting back in 2019, Alonso has led MLB first baseman in HRs and RBIs, is 3rd in wRC+ and 6th in fWAR. Besides the shortened 60 game season in 2020, Alonso has been a 40 HR and 100+ RBI player. There are not many players where you could say you would get this kind of production year in and year out. He has been one of the game’s best offensive players since 2019 and has been the face of the Mets franchise since entering the league.

Pete brings great leadership on and off the field for the Mets, has stayed healthy for 99% of his career thus far, and is respected and loved in the clubhouse and by the players and the fanbase. Alonso is not just a player you could replace so easily, and the Mets may be making that crucial mistake if they think they could.

In my opinion, the most important part of this whole situation is what it would mean for the perception of Steve Cohen’s regime as owner moving forward. A lot of people were shocked to see both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander traded at the deadline, both elite pitchers who they paid a lot of money for. By trading them both, that really makes fans question how serious the Mets are about competing in 2024 and beyond. If you also decide as a franchise to trade Pete Alonso on top of that, while also coming off probably the most disappointing season in the history of the franchise, it’ll really make the fans question Cohens decisions and make them lose trust in him. It would also seriously lose many fans, and make a lot of people very frustrated and upset, myself included.

The logic of trading Pete Alonso personally makes zero sense to me as a die hard Mets fan, or even as a die hard baseball fan. The Mets have no other top first baseman prospects in the minors. By their logic, if they would make this move of Alonso official, they would just retaliate by trusting an unknown prospect to take the spot or try and go out and sign a cheaper and probably older version of Alonso…. This in my opinion makes no sense and would look horrible on the Mets part. Why part ways with a generational power hitter and homegrown talent? I would not even criticize any fans who decided to not support the team anymore if they decide to move on from the 2x HR Derby winner. It would be a decision that could alter the perception of the franchise potentially for many years to come. Steve Cohen, you better be smart about this….