The Global New York Mets Blog: Polar Bear Power Forever

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Polar Bear Power Forever

Over the last nine months, Pete Alonso has had quite the resurgence. In Game 2 of the 2024 Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, it seemed like Alonso’s potential last moments as a New York Met would be dropping a foul pop up and stumbling out of the batter’s box while tripping over his own bat. The following night, the pending free agent first baseman made the swing of a lifetime. With the Mets down 2-0 in a win-or-go-home Game 3 in the top of the 9th with one out, Alonso smacked a go-ahead three-run home run. Tacking on an extra run, the Mets won the game 4-2 and the series 2-1.

Nicknamed the Polar Bear, Alonso has been one of the faces of the franchise since his debut in 2019. In his rookie season, Pete put himself on the map by blasting an MLB rookie record 53 home runs- surpassing New York Yankees’ star outfielder Aaron Judge’s record of 51 from just two seasons prior. The following year, in a COVID shortened 2020 60-game season, Pete mashed 16 HRs in the 57 games he played.

Aside from this outlier shortened season, Alonso has yet to hit for less than 34 home runs in a single season. Barring a major injury, Alonso is due to surpass Darryl Strawberry for most home runs in Mets history in the very near future as of this writing. With 246 career homers, the four-time All Star needs just six more to tie, and seven more to break Strawberry’s franchise record, one that has stood for 35 years.

Free agency does not provide many appealing options if the Mets were to lose out on retaining Alonso. Some of the top names available at first base include former Mets Wilmer Flores and Mark Canha, now playing for San Francisco and Kansas City respectively. Current Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana could possibly fill the void, but at ages 37 (38 in September) and 39 respectively, it is hard to imagine that either player would be anything more than a stopgap.

Internally, the Mets do have a couple of players that could fill the void. One option would be current third baseman Mark Vientos. Vientos is a big power threat and profiles more as a first baseman with his slow-footedness than someone who typically mans the hot corner. In his first full season in the majors last year in 2024, Vientos showed he belonged.

The young slugger hit for a .266 batting average and an OPS of .837 while mashing 27 home runs and driving in 71 runners. But halfway through the 2025 season, Vientos has struggled mightily. So far, the young power threat has a batting average 40 points lower than his 2024 mark hitting just .220, and at .645 his OPS is almost an astounding 200 points lower than his previous season with only 6 home runs and a meager 21 RBIs so far in 2025.

Another choice to fill the potential massive void if Alonso were to leave is Ryan Clifford. Clifford is a highly regarded player, being ranked the sixth best prospect in the Mets farm system, having come over from Houston in 2023 when the Mets traded Justin Verlander back to Houston after half a season in Flushing. But at 21 years old, he likely is another year or two away from making an impact in the majors. In 74 games for AA Binghamton this year, the first baseman/outfielder has a .240 average and an OPS of .808 while smacking 13 HRs and driving in 42 RBIs.

Re-signing Pete Alonso should be the number one priority for the front office this upcoming offseason. Alonso has been repeatedly quoted saying he wishes to remain with the Mets for the rest of his career. It wouldn’t be a failure if Alonso were to leave, but it would be yet another name on a long list of franchise icons who didn’t get to play his entire career in Queens.