After David Stearns all but confirmed that Pete Alonso is getting to free agency after this season, Evan says the Mets are making a big mistake, and should be aggressively pursuing a contract extension with their homegrown slugger to avoid potential disaster.
"You're all wrong. You've gotta show guts if you are this franchise, and you have to make the smart gamble," Evan said. "The smart gamble is to quit effing around, quit messing around, quit lowering expectations, and talk to Scott Boras and try to get a deal done. That is in the best interest in the New York Mets.
"This has nothing to do with my beard…I dare you as a Met fan or a non-Met fan, tell me what I'm telling lies about."
Evan still believes in Stearns' long-term vision, but that doesn't mean he agrees with his apparent plan of letting the season play out before deciding what to do with Alonso next winter. If Evan were running the team, his obvious decision would be to push an extension as soon as possible, because letting it get to free agency opens the door for circumstances that can lead to Alonso walking out the door for good.
"He's wrong. I can trust somebody and disagree with them," Evan said. "I can trust David Stearns' vision, and come on the radio and give you all the reasons why I'm right and you're wrong if you don't agree that this team needs to be more aggressive in working out a long-term extension.
"The Mets are taking a gamble. That gamble is that Alonso doesn't have this historic, Judge-like season that changes his contract value, and they're taking the gamble that there isn't one schmucky team…that's gonna grossly overpay him. That's the risk. The risk involves losing him, losing Pete Alonso because one team, one owner makes a decision that you may think isn't smart financially…that risk is real."
