Mets' Billy Eppler on Pete Alonso: 'Love Having Him Here' amid Contract, Trade Rumors

Pete Alonso's long-term future with the New York Mets is somewhat up in the air since next season will be the last on his contract, and general manager Billy Eppler was asked about a possible contract extension.

While he didn't specifically address the chance at an extension, he told reporters, "We love having him here."

The comments came after former Mets pitcher Max Scherzer told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that Eppler told him the team was open to trading players who are set for free agency after the 2024 season. That group would include Alonso.

New York didn't move Alonso ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline, but it did send Scherzer to the Texas Rangers and Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. The moves were further indication that the Mets are not contenders this season at 50-55 and are now looking ahead to the future.

Scherzer had to waive his no-trade clause to accommodate such a deal, and he told Rosenthal he did so because Eppler and owner Steve Cohen made it clear the club was looking at a long-term rebuild:

"I talked to Billy. I was like, 'OK, are we reloading for 2024?' He goes, 'No, we're not. Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026, '25 at the earliest, more like '26. We're going to be making trades around that.'

"I was like, 'So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?' He said, 'No, we're not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We're going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. '24 is now looking to be more of a kind of transitory year.'"

Trading Alonso would have been a drastic approach to accelerating such a rebuild.

After all, the 28-year-old slugger surely would have landed plenty of high-profile prospects in return given his status as one of the best power hitters in the league. He led the league with 53 home runs as the National League Rookie of the Year in 2019 and finished with a league-best 131 RBI to go with 40 homers last year.

Alonso is slashing .218/.314/.506 with 30 home runs and 75 RBI this season. While the batting average in particular leaves plenty to be desired after he hit .271 in 2022, the power numbers are still in place.

Whether he will be hitting home runs for the Mets or another team beyond the 2024 campaign remains to be seen at this point.

There may or may not be a contract extension down the line, but New York ensured he will be on the roster for the immediate future by not trading him like it did Scherzer and Verlander.