Why Mets lineup needed Pete Alonso as much as Alonso needed the Mets

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The big news Wednesday night in the baseball world was Pete Alonso re-signing with the Mets on a two-year, $54 million deal. After a long offseason of Alonso chatter mostly involving the Mets but sometimes hearing about other teams — perhaps in an attempt by Alonso’s agent, Scott Boras, to drum up more interest — a deal finally came to fruition. 

The easy framing is that Alonso needed the Mets to re-sign him because no other teams were as hot on his trail. The funny thing is, the need was mutual, as that Mets lineup really needed him. It simply wasn’t good enough to achieve the lofty goals the Mets should have. Now there’s a lot more thunder. 

Obviously, signing Juan Soto was a monstrous move for the Mets, both in terms of the player they got and for the message it sent. Still, replacing Alonso with Soto — while a major upgrade in every way — isn’t nearly as impactful as simply adding Soto to the lineup. 

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With Alonso back in tow, that’s exactly what the Mets did. 

In fact, the addition of Soto makes Alonso’s profile so much easier to look like a big plus in the lineup. 

Alonso hit .240 with 172 strikeouts last season and that while Soto hit .288 with 119 strikeouts against 129 walks. Soto had a .419 on-base percentage while Alonso posted a .329 OBP. The league’s average batter hit .243 with a .312 OBP, so Alonso is perfectly adequate there while Soto blows him away. If Alonso were in the two- or three-hole, one could easily argue he should be better at things like batting average and not striking out as much. 

With both in the lineup, though, Soto can hit second behind MVP runner-up Francisco Lindor, giving the Mets one of the most dynamic 1-2 punches in baseball, while Alonso can sit in the middle of the order and simply be powered up. Over the course of his career, he’s slugged .514 while averaging 43 homers and 112 RBI for every 162 games (he’s missed only 23 games in his six seasons). 

In fact, with Alonso coming back, he’s overwhelmingly likely to become the franchise leader in career home runs. Here’s the current top five: 

1. Darryl Strawberry, 252

2. David Wright, 242

3. Pete Alonso, 226

4. Mike Piazza, 220

5. Howard Johnson, 192

Further, bringing Alonso back means the Mets can move everyone else in the prospective lineup down a spot, making it deeper and much more powerful. 

Here’s what the Mets’ lineup might’ve looked like without Alonso: 

1. Lindor, SS

2. Soto, RF

3. Mark Vientos, 1B

4. Brandon Nimmo, LF

5. Francisco Alvarez, C

6. Jesse Winker, DH (Starling Marte platoon)

7. Jose Siri, CF

8. Jeff McNeil, 2B

9. Brett Baty, 3B

Now here’s what it could look like with Alonso back. 

1. Lindor, SS

2. Soto, RF

3. Vientos, 3B

4. Alonso, 1B

5. Nimmo, LF

6. Alvarez, C

7. Winker/Marte, DH

8. McNeil, 2B

9. Siri, CF

Play with the spots below 1-2 all you want, but the bottom line is the second option is significantly stronger. 

Maybe it wouldn’t have been Baty getting another chance at third base in the ninth spot. Perhaps it would’ve been Ronny Mauricio, a high-caliber prospect who missed last season after surgery to repair a torn ACL. He has plenty of upside but is also a career .292/.346/.506 hitter in Triple-A and coming off major surgery. There was plenty of unknown in that last lineup spot with Baty or Mauricio. 

On a team building for the future, that is perfectly acceptable. The Mets just went to the NLCS and have plans to win the World Series, though. 

Alonso’s worst full season tally in home runs is 34 and he’s topped out at 53. He’s hit as low as .217, but he also had 46 homers and 118 RBI that season. He’s hit as high as .271 and he drove home 131 runs that year. 

He’ll be sitting in a very cushy spot this season as far as RBI go. Behind the likes of Lindor, Soto and up-and-comer Vientos, Alonso could well set a new career high in RBI if he only hits around .250 with 40 homers. And he’s capable of better. This isn’t dreaming of potential like it would’ve been with Mauricio. We know with Alonso because we’ve already seen it. 

That’s why this was a mutually beneficial move. Yes, Alonso needed the Mets, but in order to get where they want to go, they needed him, too. 

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