Who Will The Mets Sign? Peter Alonso or Juan Soto? - The Michael Kay Show TMKS August 28 2024

great night for the Mets bad night for the Yankees where do you want to start Don Yankees or the Mets well I I don't I wouldn't be overly concerned about the Yankees I'll give you one thing to be concerned about they they have a legitimate problem against left handed starters seems to be Patrick Corbin had the worst ER of any qualified pitcher in baseball and he shut them down on two hits no runs for six inning that's concerning cuz you're going to see an abundance of Le these in the postseason you just are but go ahead I was going to say and when you take a look at the schedule and you're you're going up against the Nationals and the Orioles are in LA taking on the Dodgers you're thinking this is where we're going to be able to widen our lead and not give a game back right now you gave game back yep and the Mets got a game back so they go into um Arizona uh they have a big six-run inning and and they run away with it manah once again pitched very well ran out of gas at the end um and that's a nice win now they started off the the Padre series with a win as well um let's see them take the next two and then really make a statement I guess you could live with taking two out of three but I don't think it does much for you catching up on them but the Braves won an extra innings and right now we're at the point Don and Peter they can't afford to lose any more games to the Braves so they three gains back in the loss column so the Braves are playing the twins the Mets are playing um the Diamondbacks have been red hot and and the Mets won the first game so you have to give them great credit for that also in the game uh Pete Alonzo hit a home run and I think most Met fans would agree that pet Lonzo has not had a great season but you look up and after that home run yesterday Donnie has 28 home runs and this not not a great season so you can make the argument he's going to get anywhere from 35 to 40 home runs in an off SE for him and that home run the 28th of the Year ties him with Mike Piaza for the third most in met history and it just brings up that question once again which is going to hang over this organization um through the off season until he signs it somebody are you bringing this guy back and are you giving him the money that he wants and well those are two different questions you may want them back but at the right price and I think every Met fan realizes that if he wants north of $30 million it doesn't make a lot of sense but if you can get him at 25 million well then I think everybody would love to be able to have him come back I think it's about the price now we've seen Boris clients not get what they were looking for right recently recently there were what the four or five of them during this past off season you know oh Snell was going to get big money and he ends up signing in San Francisco late and got hurt and really stumbled out of the box because of that Chapman in San Francisco as well similar situation Bellinger uh so Guys these guys didn't Montgomery is right on the top of the list Michael won a World Series with Texas thought he was going to cash in big and didn't so it Boris has gotten it wrong so if if if the feeling was going into this past off season oh you're going to be a $40 million player I think that's off the table now how much is somebody willing to give him off of what has been for for Pete a very pedestrian type of season however to other people that may be the case but is he more valuable to the Mets as you mentioned he tied Mike pan for the third most home runs and at some point if he were to come back with the Mets next year he will pass David Wright and Daryl strawberry and he has gone on the trajectory of being the greatest offensive player this franchise has ever had so is that valuable to the Mets is it valuable to their fan base to say all right listen we he may not fit in the whole analytic thing he may be not worth as much money as we're paying him but for us having a guy who started his career here has a chance to put up some big time numbers as a met being a forever met something for us so maybe pay a little bit more than other teams I could I could see especially with Cohen as the owner Michael that that might be a direction that I I would like to see them go well howy Rose said it best yesterday if it's a short-term deal I think the Mets would be all in this guy correct me if I'm wrong he's 30 years old right so you think he's going to age well where you can give him a seven-year deal now I think he's going to want about $30 million a year so if you're the Mets would you give him three years at 90 uh the one thing I don't like and i' I've read this in a number of places is that this is one of those things where Steve Cohen could step in and say listen we got to sign him that would be the wrong move he he turned over baseball operations to David Sterns David Sterns has done a nice job so far and you got to trust his evaluation if he doesn't think that Pete Alonzo fits on this team then it doesn't matter if he's a favorite of Met fans you know what Met fans like Met fans like winning Met fans will like going to the playoffs Met fans like winning a World Series doesn't matter who the player is they can't fall in love with one guy if the guy you hired and gave all that money to be the architect of the team doesn't feel that Pete Alonzo is the right fit then then I'm sorry Steve Cohen can't butt in and go you know what the fans like them let's keep them well well but it depends on what you mean by right fit if you're telling me I think I can do better at first base over the next three four years than Pete Alonzo I can find a better player that fits in what we're trying to do to win then I think people can accept that if it's fit fitting in our salary structure well that's where the fans are going to be like well wait a minute I thought Steve Cohen is supposed to not care about things like that so if it's if if Sterns goes to Cohen and says listen I think we can get a similar player cheaper all right similar player are you saying a better player or a similar player I'm saying a similar player and I think from a salary structure standpoint I think we'd be better off if we got if if I can go out and get a guy for a lot less years and a lot less money that could do the same thing then then Cohen could say well all right but you know what he's not Pete Alonzo and I've got the money and I don't care I I I'm willing to go a little bit more financially then I think it's okay for Colin to step in see but then but then you're really stepping in the way of what Sterns is doing I'm going to tell you why it's not just about money if it was just about money then he could go out and get anybody he wants but baseball has put together a collective bargaining agreement where there are a lot of negatives for going over that final tax including draft position and you want you say you want to build a Dodger system where you know ready to go with another player when somebody leaves you're not going to be able to do that if you keep going over that tax it's going to cost you International money it's going to cost you draft position and so it's not that he can afford anybody I mean obviously he's going to make a run at stto but you want him to make a run at sto after the Verlander contract goes off after the sherzer contract goes off so that you don't have to go over $300 million but if you're going to give $30 million to Pete Alonzo and you don't want to and you feel that you can get a first basan for 10 then you're really playing against what Sterns wants to do no I get that and that's why I said if it's strictly Financial um or or it's something Beyond Financial where it's going to affect the team long term then I'm then I'm with you I don't think Cohen should step in but if if if he's going to spend it someplace else if they're going to go over the threshold anyway or if there's a way to make it work where it doesn't go over the threshold like let's say the money does come down like let's say Sterns is just not a fan of Alonzo doesn't think he fits baseball team the way he looks like as a baseball team should be built right and then goes out and gives the same money to somebody else who he happens to like and the salary structure turns out to be exactly the same well then I can understand Cohen saying well I I get where you're saying but I I we like Pete and we're going to keep Pete now of everything you said finan wise I guess that that's Cohen should not step in because that can do damage but if I can get Alonzo for the same money as somebody that Sterns would rather have and it just is a strict baseball philosophy decision well then I think Cohen should have a set but but then again you're wrong because what if well Sterns goes I want I want a great first baseman I want a great defender I'd rather have a left-handed bat rather than a right-handed bat then I mean Steve Coen could have his favorites but he's got to step back on this he's got to let the guy run the team Steve Cohen's job during this off season go and blow away Juan stto that's it otherwise but out okay but you know I I I don't think Pete's a hack either no he's not can you find can you find a better Defender yeah you can find a better Defender can you find a better hitter well it really depends on what petal onzo you're talking about he's having an off year an off year where he's still going to hit over 30 home runs do you know that the guy that you're going to bring in are going to put up similar numbers to Pete at the height I mean that's debatable I I don't know who's available Michael you may know better than I do who's the first baseman out there that you feel you can get that he guaranteed to be better than Pete Alonzo well I know Christian Walker is is going to be a free agent you know he's older but you might get him for two or three years he's a really good player but Pete also brings a lot of other things to the table as well I mean I this this is somebody that if it feels like the fans like the the players seem to like him and and there is something missing with this Mets franchise of not having that guy that has been here forever you know going back to my Ed cran poool R take a look at the guys he's going to pass home run wise or potentially could pass he's tied with Mike Piaza you know Mike Piaza has his number retired he's not a forever met he established himself as a Hall of Famer way before he came to the Mets and then didn't finish his career with the Mets David Wright had his career shortened because of the bad back Daryl strawberry who's number one well Daryl strawberry you know was a was a fr ever met until he went and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and then won championships with the Yankees and played in San Francisco and like you know so that they're kind of missing that is there value to that Michael like Peter is there value to that where maybe I can be a little bit better here financially a little bit better here glove wise maybe a little bit better potentially offensively but in a sport where you still have to Market yourself over 162 games you still have to sell tickets there's still something to entertaining your fan base over a season that what what Pete Alonzo represents might be worth a little bit here or there um it's I I I believe that's worthwhile consistently across Sports I believe the giant should have found a way to keep saquin Barkley like I I you know they don't have a guy at quarterback who's particularly meaningful I think it's meaningful football's different because you don't have the day in day out of a regular season like you do with baseball but it's a great C by you Peter because he is he's saquan Barkley hey except except ex Barkley's probably better saquon's better and a little bit more beloved by the giant however what I'm trying to say is the thing that makes Pete complicated is Michael I don't know if the fans have that same true love for him I I've never been able to gauge how they actually feel that but but but I've been making the Barkley uh comparison with Alonzo for months and the big difference is I've got a hard cap in football I have to make heartless decisions I have to only think with my brain because it's a hard cap and he's been injury-prone and I I I can't afford to think about the fan base and their love for him because I've only got eight to nine home games and I'm probably going to I'm selling those games out anyway and it's about trying to build a champion uh and and and and I have to think about the finances you have to think about the finances in baseball to a certain extent but at the same time you'd have a lot more wiggle room where you can give out gold watches that you can give a little bit more to somebody that you don't want to because it's not a hard cap sport yes you can lose some International money yes you can lose uh draft pick uh status but it's not like it is in the NFL where you literally cannot fit that salary in at the expense of something really valuable in other places that are way more important than running but You' all agree they could have fit them in I mean there's ways to make the salary cap dance and I think that what Steve Cohen has to do is play the role of John Mara John Mara wanted him back he gave in Joe Shane and Peter said at the time that's putting Joe Shane on the hot seat the easy thing would be to bring him back cuz your owner wants him back if Steve Cohen wants Pete Alonzo back and and and David Sterns doesn't you got to let David Sterns have a say and then if it doesn't play out then you have that over his head right but in the in the in the case of the Giants I mean they said it during the Hard Knocks they went out and signed two offensive linemen and traded for burns they would not been able to do all three of those things that they brought Barkley back at least according to them where all right May maybe I I'm not going to lose out on Juan stto if I give Alonzo a contract you're Steve Cohen now you might have to go uh beyond what you want to do from the luxury tax standpoint but it's not as harsh as it is in football where you've got to get under that cap or you're letting players that you don't want to let go let go again I don't know how far from the luxury tax they will be or not be depending on the million dollars here or there but I think I think Cohen can get involved from a heart standpoint a lot more than Shane and dve D were able to do it with saquon Barkley it has to be all brain in the NFL at least baseball you do have a little bit of wiggle room to think with your heart