Mets Star Pete Alonso Could Be a $182 Million Red Sox Fix

Highlights:

• Triston Casas is coming off patellar tendon surgery in his left knee and is a “we hope he’s ready” for Opening Day, not a lock.

• Pete Alonso just played 162 games for the New York Mets and hit .272/.347/.524 with an .871 OPS, 38 HR, 126 RBI and a National League-leading 41 doubles.

• Fenway Park is built for his right-handed pull power.

Pete Alonso just put himself on Boston’s winter wishlist.

Heading into free agency for the second time in two years, Alonso played all 162 games for the Mets, hit .272/.347/.524, posted an .871 OPS, crushed 38 home runs, drove in 126 runs (second in MLB), and led the National League with 41 doubles. He also passed Darryl Strawberry to become the Mets’ all-time home run leader at 264.

This is an everyday cleanup bat who just reset his market.

Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox ended the season treating first base like a temp job.

Triston Casas tore the patellar tendon in his left knee in May, had surgery, and was ruled out for the rest of the year. Team timeline: 6–12 months. Team language: “optimistic,” “targeting Opening Day.” Translation: no one is promising anything. He played 29 games and then disappeared from the lineup.

Everybody likes Pete Alonso. He’s funny, he posts every day, and he hits dingers.

The actual question for the Red Sox is whether you want to roll into 2026 at first base with hope, or with a guy who just put up 38/126/.871 in 162 games.

Alonso is the “you don’t have to worry about it” option and former MLB GM Jim Bowden suggested that this is the perfect fit.

Why Alonso fits Fenway immediately

Alonso’s swing is built for Fenway Park. He’s a right-handed bat who lives on hard pull damage to left and left-center — not cheap hooks, but loud lift and low missiles. Fenway’s short left field and the Monster don’t kill that contact; they reward it. Balls that die at the warning track in normal parks smash into that wall and become automatic doubles. Alonso just hit 41 doubles. He led the league.

So you don’t have to worry about his game translating to Fenway Park.

There’s also the availability piece.

The Red Sox spent months stitching together first base with utility fill-ins because they had no healthy everyday option.Alonso just played every single game for the second straight year. That’s part of what you’re buying.

Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas (36) is attended to by coaching and medical staff. Eric Canha-Imagn Images

This is really about how the Red Sox want to act

The club can absolutely still say Triston Casas is their long-term first baseman. He’s 25, he works counts, and when he’s right, he’s an on-base/power lefty you build around. The organization should still believe in him.

But that’s not the decision in front of them.

The decision is whether they’re going to live in “be patient with us” mode again, or behave like a team that expects to win the division right now.

Signing Alonso is a behavior change. You put him in the four-hole on Day One, stop improvising at first base, and send a message to the rest of the league (and to your own clubhouse) that you’re not punting April and May waiting to see if a surgically repaired knee holds.

It’s not anti-Casas. It’s an anti-excuse.

The market — and why Boston actually has a lane

Executives are already lining Boston up as a real Alonso landing spot.

Bowden, now at The Athletic, listed the Boston Red Sox as one of the best fits for Alonso, along with the Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. He put Alonso’s expected number at six years and $182 million.

Bowden points out that’s in line with recent elite first base contracts: Freddie Freeman (six years, $162M), Matt Olson (six years, $162M), Paul Goldschmidt (five years, $130M).

Alonso knows it.

He turned down a long-term deal last winter, took a two-year, $54 million bridge from the Mets with an opt-out, and he’s walking away from a $24 million player option because he expects to get his number now.

The pool is already filling. MLB.com says the San Francisco Giants make sense.The New York Post’s Jon Heyman has mentioned Houston Astros interest — and yes, the New York Yankees.

But here’s the difference: a lot of those clubs want Alonso. Boston might actually need him.

San Francisco wants a real everyday first baseman again. Seattle (and Texas, depending on how they handle first base/DH) wants another middle-order bat to push them over the top. The Phillies are always in on power because that’s their entire personality at this point.

The Astros are always chasing offense to prove they’re not fading.

The Red Sox? They’re the team that spent half the year asking “Who’s playing first tonight?” because their intended answer was in a brace, and they still won’t guarantee he’ll be ready to go full workload in April.

The real question

So it boils down to this:

Are the Boston Red Sox going to talk about patience again?

Or are they going to go drop six years and roughly $180 million on a first baseman who makes their lineup instantly scarier, fits their park, shows up every night, and takes first base out of the “let’s see how we’re feeling” category?

Everyone in the division will know that answer pretty fast.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Oct 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the MLB section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Mets Star Pete Alonso Could Be a $182 Million Red Sox Fix

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