Scott Boras reportedly has (very) high hopes for a Pete Alonso payday this offseason.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the superagent has been using first baseman Prince Fielder’s nine-year, $214 million contract with the Tigers as a comparison for what Alonso should get in his first taste of free agency. Per Nightengale, teams are hesitant to pay a first baseman more than the $162 million contract paid out to Freddie Freeman, or the $168 million extension that Matt Olson signed after being traded to the Braves.
Reports indicate that the Mets have offered Alonso a short-term deal in the three-year, $90 million range, but Boras seems to believe the four-time All-Star deserves more years on his contract. Alonso turned 30 years old last month and typically plays every day (he played in all 162 games in 2024 and has played over 150 games in every season of his career), but teams are hesitant to commit long term to a player with diminished athleticism and average defense, wary of how he will field his position in the years to come.
Of course, the Fielder contract did not work out. He hit .297 with 55 home runs over the first two seasons of that deal, but neck problems forced his retirement just three years later, and over his final three seasons, played in just 289 games and posted an OPS+ that was barely above league average.
BT and Sal agree that the comp from Boras, at least reported by Nightengale, is absurd.
“That deal didn’t work out because Prince Fielder got hurt!” Sal said. “The long-term deals don’t work out, even for a player that was better than Alonso and two years younger!”
“It’s probably the dumbest thing I’ve seen today,” BT said. “It’s nowhere near what he’s going to get.”