Evan: Mets can't lose Pete Alonso because he gives them best chance to win in 2025

Evan refuses to believe that the Mets and Pete Alonso are indeed parting ways, as reports are now indicating, but if that does wind up being the case, he says it would be hard to justify for a team that's trying to win a World Series this year.

"He gives them the best chance to win in 2025," Evan said bluntly.

Evan is admitted an Alonso fan and wants to see the homegrown star be a Met for life, but even when stripping away the fandom, he says Alonso on a short-term deal makes sense from a pure baseball standpoint.

"Brett Baty plays third base, Mark Vientos plays first, and Ronny Mauricio is hopefully healthy. Luisangel Acuna would play some third," Evan said. "Forgetting the position shift...while we don't know what those guys can be, those internal options - who would get a chance to play anyway - are not better than Pete Alonso in 2025.

"Take the fandom out...Pete Alonso gives them the best chance to win in 2025, and if I can bring him back on a short-term contract, I'm making that happen."

The counter would be that letting Alonso go would open things up to add other stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or an elite reliever, but Evan doesn't see Guerrero as a realistic option this year, and as for adding other pieces, why not both?

"The idea that that's happening now is all fan fiction," Evan said of Guerrero. "If you ask me if he's a Met in 2026, yeah, there's a really good chance of that. But are we talking about 2026?

"You're telling me I can't have Tanner Scott and Pete Alonso? There's no salary cap in baseball."