Mets and Red Sox Are on Offseason Failure Watch After Pete Alonso to Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles had to fend off two bigger, badder and richer teams to insert Pete Alonso into the middle of their lineup. That's as much bad news for those guys as it is good news for the Orioles.

The swing that Baltimore has taken on Alonso is for five years and $155 million, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. It's $5 million richer than what fellow slugger Kyle Schwarber got from the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, and just $6 million under the richest deal in Orioles history.

But don't worry, Orioles fans. Those Chris Davis flashbacks are unavoidable, and Alonso does have a similarly scary profile as a power-centric first baseman in his 30s. Yet at least Alonso's track record is longer and more consistent, and the more basic reality is that the team needed to do something to reestablish itself in the hotbed that is the American League East.

Mets, Red Sox Miss Out as the Orioles Score Big

For the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox, meanwhile, it's simple: One has lost Alonso, and the other didn't gain him.

After seven seasons and a club-record 264 home runs, that Alonso is done as a Met is jarring. But surprisingly, it ain't. They only re-signed him last winter because the market made him return with his hat in hand, and the word this time is that they didn't want to go beyond three years in a fresh pact.

Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, such an offer never even went out to Alonso:

That's now Alonso and Edwin Díaz, who have left the Mets just in the last 24 hours. With Brandon Nimmo having also departed a while back, there is no longer any doubt that president of baseball operations David Stearns is committed to not running it back after an 83-79 season.

It isn't the worst idea, and shifting more toward run prevention is at least something different. But you have to replace a hitter like Alonso, and the Mets' reported interest in Schwarber suggests they understand as much.

Their options are more limited now, but they can go and sign, say, Kyle Tucker or even Cody Bellinger and feel confident about their potential for improvement. There's even a case for trusting Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor to carry a new-look lineup and go all-in on pitching instead. If so, Framber Valdez and Tatsuya Imai are out there.

As for the Red Sox, there was a big to-do at the Winter Meetings on Monday about Alonso preparing to meet with them. That meeting took on new urgency when Schwarber (purportedly another Red Sox target) returned to the Phillies.

Neither is an "oh well" swing-and-miss. After all, the Red Sox's lineup has had roughly as much power as a Cuisinart since Rafael Devers was shipped off to San Francisco in June. The Red Sox need to connect on a swing, now.

Bringing back Alex Bregman is the most inoffensive way to do so, while Eugenio Suárez and Munetaka Murakami are other power bats that make sense for Boston in free agency. Bo Bichette is not a pure power hitter, but he'd at least bring a right-handed dynamism that Boston needs in its starting nine.

Even better, a trade for Ketel Marte is also in play, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post:

Marte is likely the best hitter the Red Sox can acquire in any respect this winter, though their trade options are hardly limited to him. Their rumored interest in the pull-happy Isaac Paredes is an inspired idea, and there could be a deal to be made for Giants slugger prospect Bryce Eldridge.

Whatever happens next in Queens and Boston, it needs to have the same effect as that memory-wiping gizmo from Men in Black. Otherwise, Mets and Red Sox fans are both going to remember that Alonso was on the table until he wasn't.

Other Teams Messed Up, Too

Whereas everyone seemed to be in on Schwarber at the end, the buzz on Alonso really only came down to the three teams we've been talking about. Not exactly a Royal Rumble, as these things go.

That said, the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates should have at least feigned interest after making quixotic runs at Schwarber. Both clubs need home run power, and you can say the same as other would-be contenders like the Miami Marlins and the San Diego Padres, who hit the fewest homers (152) of any playoff ream this season.

There should be eyes on these clubs, too, albeit without the same teeth-grinding strain as the ones on the Mets and Red Sox.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.