Ranking Mets 1B Pete Alonso's Top 10 Landing Spots Ahead of MLB Free Agency
For the 100 days or so that Pete Alonso was a free agent this past winter, it never truly felt like he was going to end up anywhere other than back with the New York Mets.
This year feels different, though. Certainly, the Mets remain one of the top candidates to retain his services, but it is much less of a foregone conclusion this time around, given how desperately they need to add pitching—and he sure didn't waste any time in declaring he will decline his $24M player option for next season.
Alonso's 2025 Season: .272/.347/.524, 38 HR, 126 RBI, 3.5 bWAR
Alonso's Career Stats: .253/.341/.516, 264 HR, 712 RBI, 23.4 bWAR
Undeterred by the fact that Alonso is now one year older (he turns 31 in December) than when he was unable to fetch anything close to its projection of six years and $174 million from last offseason, Spotrac puts Alonso's market value at...six years, $177 million.
Could he get it this time?
Alonso does at least have Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s $500 million extension to point to now. There's an age gap of more than four years between those two Home Run Derby heroes, but the latter's contract reset the bar for what a slugging first baseman is worth these days.
Expecting a six-year deal might be a bit much, as the likes of Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and especially Chris Davis all imploding on their gargantuan contracts turned teams off to investing heavily in slugging first basemen over the past decade.
Something in the vicinity of four years for $125 million should be on the table, though, so let's try to figure out where that could fit.
Wild Card: A Wholly Unexpected Big Spender
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If you're tired of seeing the same dozen or so teams in these types of articles, don't get mad at us. Take it up with the likes of the Reds, Guardians, Pirates, Royals, Rays, White Sox, A's, Braves and Brewers who have never signed a free agent to a contract of more than $80 million.
Of that bunch, it would be most entertaining to see the Pirates sign Alonso to address their egregious lack of slugging. However, they've been the most frugal spender of them all, never once signing a free agent to even a $40 million deal. So, that's a pipe dream not even worth discussing.
One team who maybe could surprise us, though? The Miami Marlins.
They did throw $106 million at former Met Jose Reyes once. And while we've come to know Alonso as the King of Queens, he has spent most of his life in the Sunshine State, born and raised in Tampa before attending the University of Florida.
By no means do we expect him to take some sort of hometown discount, but he might at least answer a call from Miami, where a major upgrade at first base could be what gets them back into the postseason.
Despite a mostly unproductive quartet of Eric Wagaman, Matt Mervis, Liam Hicks and Troy Johnston handling most of the first base duties this season and despite Sandy Alcantara not hitting his stride until after the trade deadline, the Marlins messed around and recovered from a 30-45 start to at least have an outside shot at making the playoffs during the final week of the regular season.
Adding Alonso to a mix where only Kyle Stowers, Jakob Marsee, Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards are particularly locked into the 2026 starting lineup would be mighty interesting.
10. Philadelphia Phillies
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Projected 1B Situation: Bryce Harper
Harper has said in the past he is willing to move back to the outfield, but the Phillies have been reluctant to consider it, even as Nick Castellanos devolved into a major liability in right field this season.
What if they fail to re-sign Kyle Schwarber, though, resulting in a void at DH to be filled by Harper and/or Castellanos?
Doesn't Alonso's 158 home runs since the beginning of 2022 become the logical top target to backfill the 187 home runs Schwarber has hit during that time?
There has been a growing consensus that Schwarber will eventually re-sign with the Phillies, though, at which point there most likely wouldn't even be room in the budget for Alonso, let alone a fit in the lineup.
9. Chicago Cubs
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Projected 1B Situation: Michael Busch
The big decision here is the biggest of them all this winter, that being Kyle Tucker and what could be around a $500 million deal.
If the Cubs manage to bring Tucker back on a long-term contract, finding room in the budget for Alonso, too, simply isn't happening. They're already committed to $134 million in 2026 just in Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, Matt Boyd, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner, and they have been reluctant to make luxury-tax payments, even though they have long been one of MLB's most profitable franchises.
Five of those seven guys will hit free agency next winter, though, so at least one substantial long-term splash—perhaps one that is back-loaded a bit and doesn't really impact the bottom line until 2027—should be part of the offseason plan here.
Michael Busch has been a solid first baseman for the Cubs over the past two years, and he is under team control through 2029. However, he used to be primarily a second baseman, and he could be their main DH in 2026 (with Suzuki reclaiming the reins in RF) until replacing Hoerner at 2B in 2027.
Might not be perfect, but it's an option worth exploring to get another right-handed power bat into the mix.
8. Boston Red Sox
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Projected 1B Situation: Triston Casas and Nathaniel Lowe
While the Cubs try to figure out how to keep Kyle Tucker, the Red Sox have Alex Bregman to worry about. Trevor Story, too, after the incredible back-from-the-dead season he enjoyed.
Both the primary third baseman and primary shortstop can opt out of what's left on their respective contracts, and it's likely they both do. And at that point, the Red Sox would be heading into free agency with a projected starting infield of Marcelo Mayer off a wrist surgery, Triston Casas off a ruptured patellar tendon, Ceddanne Rafaela who is better as a center fielder and probably Kristian Campbell after what ended up being a disastrous and truncated rookie season.
Not exactly an alignment that has "World Series contender" written all over it, but the Red Sox most certainly have the finances to do something about it, what with Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu slated to make a combined total of less than $14 million in 2026.
Like the Cubs, though, they've made it a point to avoid making luxury-tax payments, only once in the past six seasons going over the "cap" in paying a barely $1 million fine in 2022.
So, while there's a good chance they either re-sign Bregman or bring in either Alonso or Bo Bichette, it's unlikely they'll sign multiple members of that trio. We shall see which one they prefer.
7. Washington Nationals
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Projected 1B Situation: Andrés Chaparro?
There's little question Washington needs to upgrade at first base if it's trying to contend in 2026.
Two years of Nathaniel Lowe was supposed to be the answer, but the Nationals released him in August. Josh Bell is a free agent. And Chaparro was the only other player to log at least three games played at first in 2025.
Washington was also just plain awful against left-handed pitching for a second consecutive year and could desperately use an infusion of right-handed power.
Are the Nationals trying to contend in 2026, though?
And is Alonso the Jayson Werth-y type of "pilfering from a division rival" move that they're looking/willing to make?
The fit is obvious. The desperation to get it done is the unknown. And considering Alonso might cost more than the $113.25 million the Nationals have invested in the past five free-agent cycles combined, this is about as high as we can rationally rank them.
6. Arizona Diamondbacks
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Projected 1B Situation: Tyler Locklear or a position changer
After shipping Josh Naylor to Seattle, Arizona got a whole lot of nothing out of its first base spot. It might be the biggest reason the Diamondbacks fell just short of their almost incredible comeback for a playoff spot.
But while Locklear struggled for his five healthy weeks on the MLB roster, he has potential, batting .293/.388/.495 over the past two years in Triple-A.
If they're not sold on Locklear, they could also commit to either Blaze Alexander or Jordan Lawlar at third base and teach the other versatile young infielder the art of playing first base this offseason.
In other words, they do have options. Whether any of them are good options for 2026 is open to debate. But after that massive investment less than a year ago in Corbin Burnes (who probably won't pitch at all in 2026 while recovering from Tommy John surgery), signing another nine-figure contract might not be in the cards.
5. Seattle Mariners
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Projected 1B Situation: Luke Raley?
To at least some extent, Seattle's level of interest here is: Pending October results.
Josh Naylor is headed for free agency, and given the other options Seattle has on hand to play first base, let's just say there's a reason almost the entire MLB-covering industry was projecting the Mariners to acquire Naylor ahead of the deadline.
If they get bounced early, they might be desperate enough to invest in Alonso, in hopes of ensuring this window of relevance doesn't pass them by.
But if they win it all, there's not going to be much of an urgency to fill that hole at first base—especially with a talent-rich farm system where SS/3B Colt Emerson, C Harry Ford, IF Michael Arroyo and OF Lazaro Montes all could be regulars in the big league mix by the end of 2026.
Putting the M's just barely in the top five feels about right for now, but let's revisit when we have a bit more information on whether this season ends up going down as a great success.
4. San Diego Padres
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Projected 1B Situation: Jake Cronenworth, but he mainly played 2B in 2025
The Padres have three sure things in their infield for next season: Manny Machado at third, Xander Bogaerts at short and Jake Cronenworth somewhere on the other half of the diamond.
Cronenworth has played more than 500 games at second base in his six-year career, but also more than 250 games at first base. And which of the two he primarily mans in 2026 figures to depend on which of the two they upgrade this winter.
Chances are, they'll try not to spend too much money to address that hole in the lineup. Trading with the Rays for Brandon Lowe or Yandy Diaz or signing either Gleyber Torres or Josh Naylor at around half the cost of Alonso might be their preferred offseason route.
But after a season in which only the Pirates and Cardinals hit fewer home runs than them, and after a five-year stretch in which the Padres have gotten 15 fewer home runs from their first basemen than MLB's second-worst team in that department, can they afford to penny-pinch here?
Alonso has out-homered the Padres leader in dingers by a margin of at least five in now four consecutive seasons. And in what has been the fantasy equivalent of a "stars and scrubs" approach they've been taking with their lineup in recent years, he could be the star who tips the scales in their favor.
3. Texas Rangers
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Projected 1B Situation: Jake Burger and Josh Smith
Is Jake Burger cooked?
After a combined 63 home runs with the White Sox and Marlins in 2023 and 2024, the 29-year-old first baseman simply was not the answer the Rangers were searching for in 2025.
But beyond the trio of young prospects they gave up to acquire Burger last winter, the silver lining is they haven't made any sort of major investment in him yet. Next year will be his first of arbitration eligibility, and anything more than a $2 million salary would be a bit of a surprise. Can't imagine they would lose much sleep over trading away or even releasing Burger if they signed Alonso.
Is first base where they want to invest this offseason, though?
When the pitching staff is slated to lose Merrill Kelly, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Patrick Corbin, Chris Martin, Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong, Danny Coulombe and Phil Maton?
They do still have Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi each signed through at least 2027, not to mention Jacob Latz, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft (Jack Leiter) and the No. 3 pick in 2022 (Kumar Rocker).
Though they're losing a lot to free agency, they're not exactly a top candidate to go after a Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, Zac Gallen or Dylan Cease.
Spending on Alonso and taking a more budget-conscious approach with the pitching might be the way to go.
2. New York Mets
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Projected 1B Situation: Mark Vientos and Jeff McNeil
The Mets were willing to let Alonso walk this past winter as an alternative to extending him a long-term offer, but were also happy to pay him handsomely on a 1+1 contract when he was still available late in the offseason.
That's because the infield depth chart is promising, but it needed at least one more year in the oven to finish cooking.
Though Vientos struggled in the first half of his quest to build upon a great 2024 campaign, he was much better after the All-Star Break. Brett Baty appears to have finally arrived after a few challenging initial forays into the majors. And first base prospect Ryan Clifford—who landed with the Mets as part of the Justin Verlander trade in 2023—plausibly could be part of a 2026 infield mix where Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña are already options without a full-time home in the field.
Would they rather have Alonso, who has been their rock at first base for seven consecutive seasons? Of course.
But with roughly $180 million already tied up in Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes and Sean Manaea in 2026 and a dire need to improve the pitching staff, is a hefty reinvestment in Alonso really going to be a priority? Maybe not.
1. New York Yankees
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Projected 1B Situation: Ben Rice and T.J. Rumfield
The biggest question here isn't the roster fit or the willingness of the team to make the investment.
It's whether Alonso would be willing to do this to Mets fans.
It wouldn't be quite as much of a Benedict Arnold situation as if he signed with the Braves or Phillies. However, with the exception of Dwight Gooden going from the Mets in 1994 to the Yankees in 1996—with a year off in between for a failed drug test—examples of key NYM FAs signing with NYY have been basically nonexistent.
The Yankees do kind of owe the Mets one, though, for outbidding them on Juan Soto this past winter.
And after a few years of hoping for the best and not getting a whole lot out of late-career Anthony Rizzo and Paul Goldschmidt, the Yankees could be looking to make a long-term investment at first base for the first time since signing Mark Teixiera in 2009.
