The New York Mets still have plenty to play for in 2024. But the real intrigue may lie in the winter.
Though the Mets are within 1 1/2 games of the final National League Wild Card spot, they stand just a 27.8% chance to make the playoffs, via ESPN's playoff probability model. They weren't a preseason favorite to earn a playoff spot, but the Mets have continually hung around.
When the Mets sold veteran pitchers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the 2023 trade deadline, they established that 2025 was expected to be the opening of their next championship window. But that also depends on the fate of their franchise first baseman.
Pete Alonso, the Mets' cleanup hitter and home run leader, is an impending free agent. And although both sides have expressed their interest in a potential reunion, one prominent Mets internet personality doesn't see that reunion taking shape.
Jack Oliver, a content creator and Mets fan better known by his internet persona, "Jolly Olive," predicted recently that Alonso will leave the Mets this winter in free agency.
"The vibe in my head right now is, like, 'This is the last six weeks of Pete Alonso as a Met,'" Oliver said on Jomboy Media's Wake N Jake. "All you have to do is look at the way (David) Stearns has operated in the past. He does not sign corner infielders to big deals."
Alonso, 29, has been a stalwart in the middle of the Mets' lineup his entire career. Beginning with his first season in 2019, in which he blasted an MLB rookie record 53 home runs, the former Florida Gator has set the tone for the offense in Flushing, Queens.
With 219 home runs and a .519 career slugging percentage, Alonso is one of the game's premier power hitters. But his last two seasons haven't been his best, and with the intent to sign one of the game's most expensive contracts ever for a first baseman, Alonso may have fewer teams interested than anticipated.
Wherever he winds up, Alonso will be one of the biggest stories of the upcoming offseason. And how he performs in the final month of the season could be a determining factor of whether or not he remains in a Mets uniform.
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