The New York Mets coming to town can mean only one thing for the Cincinnati Reds this weekend.
That’s right, window shopping for free agents.
Because if there are two things that the first 140 games of the season have revealed about the Reds it’s that this is not a playoff team (a five-game deficit on the field and losses in 10 of the last 13 games say that much).
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And this: They need to make a run at Pete Alonso when the Mets’ slugging first baseman becomes a free agent after this season (assuming hometown slugger Kyle Schwarber returns to the Phillies before hitting the market, as expected).
Imagine these two guys in the same lineup next year (Elly De La Cruz, left, and Pete Alonso).
It’s time for Castellini ownership to put some of that revenue-sharing money they’ve been pocketing where their mouth has been for the past two-plus seasons talking about wanting to win.
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They Reds have the manager. They have the starting pitching (and then some). They have nice pieces throughout the lineup and in the bullpen.
But they need the one missing, single, hulking piece they’ve spent the season proving is the difference between reaching October and falling short of the playoff field again.
And if that monster in the middle can’t be the monster from Middletown, Schwarber, then they should go big game hunting this winter for the Polar Bear.
“All of this centers around ownership because when you have the arms that Cincinnati has — that’s a component that you normally have to spend money on in free agency. Now it’s reversed,” said Scott Boras, Alonso’s agent.
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Boras, who also represents Elly De La Cruz, obviously has a stake in all matters than involve getting Alonso paid this winter.
But he’s also right.
The Reds have the luxury of enough projected starting pitching into 2026 that valuable swingman Nick Martinez’s $21.05 million salary is likely to fall off the books without a substantial effort to retain him.
While a lot of inexpensive young pitching like Chase Burns (right) will be available for next season. Conversely, Nick Martinez (left), who made s $21.05 million this season, should be coming off the Reds’ books.
Their payroll already ranks near the bottom of the league.
They have the financial strength – if ownership has the will to get serious about adding the one big piece to the roster that brings the potential for transforming a league-average-at-best group into a competitive force.
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“ ‘I’ve got a superstar player here for three, four more years, and I’ve got the ability to (add elite protection),’ “ Boras said.
“You have to wonder if you put somebody with 40-home run power behind Elly De La Cruz, how many runs scored would he have,” he added. “When you’re talking about getting run-production advantages, a power hitter coupled with Elly De La Cruz is a remarkable (advantage).
“It’s something that few organizations can say they have, because you have to have extraordinary power, and you have to have the extraordinary skillset to get on base like De La Cruz has.”
Alonso, who signed a two-year, $54 million extension last winter that includes a $24 million player option, is expected to opt out after another high-powered 2025 season that includes 33 home runs and 113 RBIs with three weeks left as the Mets arrive at Great American Ball Park.
New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso is expected to opt out of his deal for next season and be on the open market. Alonso enters the three-game series with the Reds with 33 home runs and 113 RBIs.
The big right-handed slugger has a career .516 slugging percentage that would trail only Frank Robinson (.554) and Adam Dunn (.520) in Reds franchise history.
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His home runs totals in each of his seven big-league seasons would have led the Reds — including that 53 as a rookie that’s one more than George Foster’s 1977 franchise record for a season.
By comparison, only six teams in the majors have hit fewer than the Reds’ 138 homers in 140 games. Alonso’s 33 is almost as many as the Reds top two home run hitters, De La Cruz and Spencer Steer, combined (34)
The Reds were out-homered 11-2 by the Blue Jays in a lost series this week, and 25-12 during the 3-10 slide they ride into the do-or-die Mets series.
Imagine Alonso in the cleanup spot providing the kind of protection full-time that Austin Hays almost did in the first half and Miguel Andujar did for a few weeks in August – the kind of threat that might force at least a few pitchers to throw another fastball or two once in a while to De La Cruz.
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Imagine the ripple effect if the guy getting more breaking balls than almost any other hitter in baseball started reaching a next level from the two-time All-Star with an .800 OPS he already is.
“I think any slugger in Cincinnati, you immediately become a core of the team,” Boras said.
In this case, you could immediately become the most popular Pete in Cincinnati since Rose.
What would it cost? Alonso will be 31 next season. He makes $30 million this year. Could he be had for four years and $110 million? $120 million?
If the Reds are serious about getting the most out of their De La Cruz window (club control through 2029), or their Francona window (signed through 2027), it’s the cost of doing business.
Specifically, the business of winning.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Cincinnati Reds should target New York Mets free agent Pete Alonso