The Mets were dealt a major blow to their offseason plans after slugging first baseman Pete Alonso agreed to spurn New York and sign a five-year contract with the Orioles in free agency.
The contract will pay Alonso $155 million, $31 million per season, and runs through the 2030 campaign. It’s the second time in as many days that the Mets lost out on one of their own free agents, following Edwin Díaz’s decision to join the Dodgers instead of returning to Queens.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. If you’re a Mets fan, losing Alonso stings. Badly.
But that’s baseball, and now Steve Cohen & Co. will need to scour the market for a replacement, whether it be via a free agency signing of their own or potentially swinging a trade to find a new everyday first baseman. With that in mind, let’s explore some potential fits for the Mets at first base following Alonso’s departure.
Pete Alonso replacements for Mets this offseason
Sign Cody Bellinger
Bellinger has played more outfield than first base in his career, but he’s still played 350 games at first in his career. And in terms of prowess at the plate, he may be the closest available option to Alonso that the Mets can realistically pursue. He doesn’t boast the same power stroke, but he’s an excellent hitter who is more than capable of handling first base duties.
Last year with the Yankees, Bellinger slashed .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs. Could he be the next player to shed his pinstripes and make the cross-city move to Queens?
Trade for Yandy Díaz
If the Rays opt to move on from Yandy Díaz, the Mets could suddenly find themselves as a logical destination. Díaz and Alonso are pretty different in terms of what they provide. While Alonso swings for the fences, Díaz excels at getting on base and hitting for contact. He slashed .300/.386/.482 last season and launched a career-high 25 home runs to go with 83 RBIs. Díaz has recorded a bWAR of 3.4 or higher in three of the last four seasons.
Díaz, 34, is due $12 million in 2026 and has a conditional club option worth $10 million for the 2027 season. It’s an inexpensive deal, considering his production, and if New York is willing to move some pieces to land him, they’d have another quality hitter in the lineup.
Sign Munetaka Murakami
Munetaka Murakami, 25, is heading to MLB from the NPB, and he could be an intriguing option for teams looking to beef up their lineup with some power. He plays third base and first base primarily, and is coming off a strong season for the Yakult Swallows in which he had an OPS of 1.051 and 25 home runs in 69 games.
It’s unclear how he’ll fare against the superior pitching in MLB, but if he’s able to provide even half of that power at the plate in the U.S., he would be a great addition for any team. After losing out on Alonso, Murakami could be a viable fit in Queens.
Sign Ryan O’Hearn
O’Hearn had a solid season last year, splitting time between the Padres and Orioles. In 144 games, he had 17 home runs and a .803 OPS, doing enough to make his first-ever trip to the All-Star Game. O’Hearn, 32, is a talented left-handed hitter who can shuffle between right field and first base. While he’s not as gifted a power hitter as Alonso, he’s a good all-around batter who’s recorded a batting average of .280 or higher in two of the last three seasons.
Trade for Christian Walker
Christian Walker’s first year with the Astros was not too successful. He recorded a career-low batting average (.238) and had his second-worst OPS (.717), despite hitting 27 home runs and driving in 88 RBIs. His 0.2 bWAR was the worst mark of his career in any season in which he played more than 57 games, and his strikeout rate went way up to 27.7%.
In the three previous seasons before ‘25, Walker had a .813 OPS with 95 home runs and 281 RBIs across 447 games. The talent is there, even if he didn’t put his best foot forward in Houston. Could the Mets swing a trade for the remaining two years and $40 million left on his contract? A change of scenery could be exactly what Walker needs to return to form, and if he can produce like he did from 2022 to ‘24, he’d be a great addition to the Mets’ lineup.
Sign Paul Goldschmidt
Another player—and former Yankee—the Mets could potentially entertain signing as a replacement for Alonso would be the veteran Paul Goldschmidt. The 38-year-old is back on the open market after a one-year stint in the Bronx, during which he logged a .731 OPS and hit 10 home runs across 146 games.
Goldschmidt, at this stage of his career, wouldn’t be the flashiest addition. He plays about league-average defense and no longer possesses the same power at the plate he previously did, but he’s as experienced as they come and could still be a regular contributor in the back-end of the Mets’ lineup. The team has reportedly looked into Goldschmidt as a potential replacement for Alonso, though he’d certainly be a stopgap option at best, considering he’s at the tail end of his career.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Mets Can Replace Pete Alonso at First Base.