Amid playoff clinches and tight races, Pete Alonso of the last-place Baltimore Orioles has grabbed headlines all over the baseball world. The first baseman on September 15 hit his 300th career home run and his 36th on the season while the Orioles were visiting the New York Mets, his longtime team.
The reaction from Mets fans has drawn mixed opinions — Citi Field cheered Alonso as his milestone homer soared out of the stadium. In their defense, most of his 300 home runs were hit as a Met and he was the face of the team for a long time. On the other hand, he's now a visiting player who tied the score with the blast.
Alonso's homer No. 300 gave New York and team owner Steve Cohen the most painful insight into the player they missed out on. It's also raked up the Boston Red Sox's pursuit of Alonso in free agency.
The Red Sox and Orioles were among the finalists for Alonso's services before Baltimore won out. Reporting from the offseason indicated that Boston was a ways away from landing Alonso in terms of years and money offered because the front office prefers younger players as opposed to older, established, "regression candidates."
But Jared Carrabis of the "Baseball is Dead" podcast on September 16 refuted that report. He said the Red Sox were "very close" to signing Alonso, according to a recent update from an unnamed source.
Red Sox were reportedly closer to signing Pete Alonso than offseason news suggested, according to Jared Carrabis
Carrabis isn't a "reporter" in the true sense of the word, so his statement can be taken with a grain of salt. But he does have sources within the Red Sox organization who have a history of dropping inside information. For example, he knew about Boston's firing of Alex Cora and its other coaches before the news dropped.
If Carrabis' statement is true, the Red Sox may have released other information to reporters to avoid the embarrassment of being outbid on a top free agent by the Orioles, one of the lower payroll teams in the AL East, though this is pure speculation. Losing out to Baltimore is brutal any way you slice it.
There's no denying that Willson Contreras has been a fantastic addition to the Red Sox. He's been the club's biggest offensive contributor all season (.275/.386/.519 slash line, 21 doubles, 27 home runs and 81 RBI over 128 games) and he's shown he can be a leader on this young Boston squad. But Sox fans can't help but wonder if they could've clinched a playoff spot already or finished higher in the division with Alonso's 37 home runs on their side.
Alonso is a rare breed of player, despite regression concerns. He hits home runs with the best of them from the right side of the plate, which the Red Sox desperately need. He posts almost every single day and has had few injury concerns throughout his career. His defense, one of the biggest concerns about his game, has improved in Baltimore. Alnoso would've addressed so many of the Red Sox's deficiencies.
Had Boston gone above and beyond to land Alonso like it should've, like fans know it could've, maybe it'd be in the playoffs already. Instead, the Red Sox have to deal with the slugger as a division rival for the next four seasons, which surely won't hurt at all.
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