A Continuing Resolution

Morning Dose: Thursday, February 6

☀️ Good Morning:

Steve Cohen both is an investor and a collector.

Pete Alonso is a Met collectible. And that’s why he is staying in Queens for at least one more season.

Alonso, like the Empire State Building, is far from the most luxurious player you can find in these modern times, but his presence in the lineup is a landmark that defines the Mets.

For as much as Cohen has turned the franchise into a big-market contender, investing in everything from payroll to pitching labs, he has also embraced the history and what it means to be a New York Met.

The team museum next to the rotunda, the numbers being retired each season, the legacy players returning Citi Field. That’s what this signing is about. Moving team history forward — Alonso could become the franchise leader in home runs by the end of next season (he’s only 26 behind Darryl Strawberry).

David Stearns already had a roster projected to win enough games to make the playoffs, adding Alonso doesn’t significantly improve those odds, but a baseball team is more than numbers on a calculator, it is a living and breathing thing. Steve Cohen understands that.

On a two-year deal with an opt out after the first season, history might only carry Alonso so far. This is like passing a continuing resolution, neither side of the aisle is perfectly happy, but both feel relieved they can temporarily move on.

☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!

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Pete Alonso is back. Mets fans can forget about contract talks long enough to drool over a lineup that should be one of the very best in baseball. They can watch Francisco Lindor spark the order and Juan Soto menace opposing pitchers before rising to their feet when Alonso hits a moonshot to drive them both home.

They can celebrate #20 until he puts up big enough numbers to start the conversation all over again about what his future might look like.

💰 CONTRACT TERMS: Alonso returns on a two-year, $54 million contract that includes an opt-out after the 2025 season. He will be paid $30 million in 2025 (including a $10 million signing bonus) and $24 million in 2026.

• This is essentially a one-year deal. If Alonso doesn’t opt out of the second year, that means something went terribly wrong, possibly an injury.

• The Mets were also offering Alonso a three-year deal for $71 million, per The Athletic. The offer would have reportedly paid him $27 million in 2025, and $22 million in both 2026 and 2027. That offer also contained a player option after the first season.

Alonso decided, once again, to bet on himself and an improved market next offseason. Players cannot receive a qualifying offer twice, so he will be free of that burden. The $30 million he will fetch in 2025 technically makes him the highest paid first baseman in the sport, eclipsing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in annual salary. His $27 million AAV puts him next to Freddie Freeman and above both Bryce Harper and Matt Olson.