ESPN's Jesse Rogers reported on ESPN Chicago radio that not only do the Cubs have Pete Alonso on their radar, but the Mets homegrown star "wants" to come to Chicago.
Evan has made it clear that he wants Alonso locked up long term in Queens, but he isn't sweating this report.
"I think Pete Alonso wants to be a Met," Alonso said. "But he also wants to get paid.
"I did not, and I am not, reacting to this Jesse Rogers report with 'Pete wants out.' I'm reacting to it with, Pete is letting you know, 'If it ain't here, I prefer to go there.'"
Alonso was reportedly mentioned in trade talks during the Mets fire sale back in July, and with a new president of baseball operations at the helm, the Mets could take on a new identity that doesn't include Alonso. But Evan doesn't have that worry yet, as New York could just as easily wait out Alonso's final year of arbitration before negotiating a contract in free agency.
"David Stearns gave no indication yesterday that he's gonna aggressively try to lock Pete up," Evan said. "More than anything, it was more, 'Pete is our first baseman next year, we'll see what happens.' That's how I took it.
"It's a sign of 'We're not going to tell you we really want to, because we're going to negotiate with you.'"
Stearns did say that he expects Alonso to be the Mets Opening Day first baseman, which leads Evan to believe the team could be trying to take a route similar to what the Yankees did with Aaron Judge, only that backfired after Judge went on to hit 62 home runs.
"If the Mets don't trade Pete Alonso, here is how I would take it: they want to keep him…if they had come to that conclusion, then you trade him now," Evan said. "If you bring him back and play him into a contract year, that just sounds like the Mets are playing business with Pete Alonso. They want him back, but they want him back on the right deal."
