With Alonso gone, the Mets face a crucial first base decision. Will Vientos rebound, or will they seek a free agent or trade acquisition?
On Wednesday afternoon, news broke that first baseman Pete Alonso would not be returning to the New York Mets, instead heading to the Baltimore Orioles on a five-year, $155 million contract.
Uncertainty about an Alonso-Mets reunion clouded New York since the start of the offseason, but the storms have finally cleared, and the future is now certain: the Mets will be without Alonso and need to find a replacement.
The Mets have had corner infielder Mark Vientos as a backup plan in the case that Alonso fled in free agency, but his step down in 2025 hasn’t instilled a ton of confidence in the 26-year-old’s ability to make up for Alonso’s absence. Last season, Vientos finished with a slash line of .233/.289/.413 with an OPS of .702. It wasn’t even enough to finish a positive in the wins above replacement category, recording a -0.2 WAR.
It was a huge letdown after his 3.1 WAR 2024 campaign in which he hit 27 home runs and drove in 71 runs on an .837 OPS in 111 games. If Vientos can return to and even improve on his 2024 season, then the Mets will be able to spend their money on other areas of the roster while still getting great production at first. The question is whether owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns will trust Vientos after seeing a significant season of regression in 2025.
If they choose that Vientos can’t be trusted and they need to look externally, there are a couple of free agent names that could provide value at first base, even if it’s not quite as much as Alonso did for seven years in New York.
Luis Arraez is a much different baseball player than Alonso, but he’s been one of the bigger names in the infield over the past five or so seasons. A two-time Silver Slugger and multiple-time batting champion, Arraez has proven his ability to impact games with his bat, albeit without much power.
With an estimated market value average annual salary of $14 million, Arraez could offer the Mets a fairly cheap safety net at first that could split time with Vientos as he tries to work himself back as an above-average hitter.
Other free agent first basemen like Josh Bell, Ryan O’Hearn, Paul Goldschmidt, Kazuma Okamoto, and Munetaka Murakami could now be targets for the Mets as they try to fill their polar bear-sized hole at first base.
If New York isn’t satisfied with the free agent options at first base, it could look to the trade market to fill in for Alonso. Yandy Diaz of the Tampa Bay Rays could draw interest from the Mets after posting a 136 OPS+ last season. The St. Louis Cardinals’ Wilson Contreras could also be a target for Stearns and Cohen after making his move to first base last season and continuing to positively impact games with his bat.
Though the Mets lost out on their star slugger, notably the day after also losing out on their star closer in Edwin Diaz, they have options. They could put their faith in Vientos to have a bounce-back season and save money and assets, or they could hit the free agent or trade market in search of their next first baseman. There are plenty of talented options at first that are available this offseason, but Alonso’s absence will undoubtedly be felt next year and beyond. All that Mets fans can do now is hope whoever is next will make it just a bit less noticeable.