LOS ANGELES — In the final days of the regular season and so often through this postseason run, Pete Alonso could wave his bat like a wand and conjure up one more game for the Mets — one more game in which he would play for the Mets.
On Sunday, the magic was all gone, and his future became the startling present.
After Alonso survived the doubleheader in Atlanta; survived the Game 3 elimination game in Milwaukee, in which his ninth-inning, three-run home run turned the Mets from losers into winners; and survived the potential elimination game at Citi Field on Friday, he finally found what could be his final game as a Met with the 10-5, NLCS- and season-ending loss at Dodger Stadium.
“I love being a New York Met. I love representing the city of New York. I love representing Queens,” Alonso said in a clubhouse of hugs. “This has really been special.”
Alonso’s possible goodbye included a pair of infield singles and a walk, reaching base in three of five plate appearances.
The Mets can now go home, and Alonso will reach what will be a fascinating free agency.
A second-round pick in 2016, Alonso has been a lifelong Met and a beloved one.
He cracked the Opening Day roster in 2019 and really has not stopped hitting since, including a breakout, 53-homer rookie season and a pair of Home Run Derby crowns.
Since Alonso entered the majors, only Aaron Judge has clubbed more home runs.
“I love this team. I love this organization. This fan base has treated not just myself but my family so well,” Alonso said. “Right now, I’m just thinking of the group. Obviously, we’ll see what happens. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But I love New York. … The memories we’ve made here are just, wow. This is why we play baseball.”
There are on-field and sentimental reasons for the Mets to explore every avenue to lock up the slugger, who brings rare power and whose 226 homers are third all time in franchise history.
A return surely would mean Darryl Strawberry’s record of 252 would fall.
Alonso is a clubhouse leader who leads by actions and words, the type who might lend a bat and might lead a comic routine on the team bus.
“Pete has done so much for this organization right from the get-go,” said Brandon Nimmo, who tested free agency but returned to the Mets on a long-term pact. “He means a lot to this fan base and to this team. Would love to see him back here, but also going through that process, I understand that it is a business.”
There are concerns about how a lumbering first baseman who turns 30 in December will age.
Alonso had a brilliant postseason but a somewhat subpar regular season by his own standards, with 34 home runs, a .240 average and a career-worst .788 OPS.
Was this a down season or was this the beginning of a downward slope?
If the Mets allow Alonso to walk, it is possible they look externally for a replacement, and it is possible they would ask third baseman Mark Vientos to travel across the diamond.
There are questions for Alonso and the Mets front office to answer, which are for another day. For this day, Alonso wanted to reflect on the 2024 Mets.
“We say it all the time, this place is a zoo, but it’s true,” Alonso said. “Just this strange group of guys that came together, that bonded together, that experienced so much. One of our second basemen is a billboard, top-selling artist.”
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