This Trade Proposal Is INSANE...

This trade proposal is insane. Pete Alonso, the home run king, the fan favorite that the Mets let walk to the Baltimore Orioles, is part of a team that is looking to sell off assets. And David Stearns, you know the wrong that you committed a year ago. Can Steve Cohen break through to him? And can the Mets actually pull off? One of the rarest, most fascinating trade processes we have seen in recent times, bringing back the guy they should have never let go in the first place. We'll get into all that today on Mets Digest. I'm Josh Byrne. Guys, thank you so much for all your support to the channel. It does mean a lot, whether that be throughout the season, into the early stages of the off season, it does not go unnoticed. And if you're enjoying the content. Please do consider subscribing if you are not already. And the fact is, is that if you have not been paying attention, the Orioles are open to trade talks on most of their roster. They're open to trade talks. And obviously, when you think of the Orioles and who they have on their roster as a Mets fan, your mind immediately goes, appropriately so, to Mr. Alonso, because the guy hit 264 home runs with the New York Mets organization. And eclipsed that 300 mark with the Orioles. And it's not even just that he hit all those home runs as a Met. It's that he did it as a homegrown talent. And he was really the face of the franchise, even when the Mets acquired Lindor. Even during the one season in which he played with Juan Soto, Pete Alonso was synonymous with the New York Mets. Yes, and... And unfortunately, Despite the fact that the Orioles are open to trading most players, well, let's get into some quotes here as to why it may be harder on the outset to make a deal for their first baseman. Andy Koska of the Baltimore Banner said, in order to do so. The Orioles are maintaining a willingness to listen in trade discussions on every player barring Pete Alonso, the sources said, although that doesn't guarantee drastic change. Now, to me, this does not dissuade the Orioles or other teams. From either, if you're the Orioles trading him, or other teams calling about him. Why? We see this all the time. This is a negotiation tactic. And Pete Alonso is coming off of a career season. Alonso was fantastic in 2026. He hit, I mean, 40, what did he hit? 43 home runs, and he put up... An OPS that was just below 900. In fact, in 2024, Pete Alonso had the highest OPS plus of his career, even higher than his breakout historical rookie year where he set the rookie home run record of 53 back in 2019. And he put up 4.9 wins above average. Again, wins above replacement, I should say. Again, that is the best season, whether it be, you know, OPS-wise or WAR-wise, since that 2019 historical year. And if you're the Orioles, this is a team that is kind of in the middle of a retail tool right now. Not kind of, they fully are. They are looking to upgrade on the rotation that has given them Major, major issues improve the outfield, and by doing so and not having the deep pocketbooks that a team like the New York Mets have, they need to keep options over wherever. Pete Alonso reportedly being off-limits, again, to me, that's a negotiation tactic. He is coming off the best year of his career. He is a high-priced star. And if you're telling me that the Orioles would pass up on an offer for top prospects from any team, and let's say for the Mets' sake, Jefferson Rojas, Mitch Voit, Wander Sengun, I, frankly, I don't buy that. I really don't. So that is something that is worth watching here. How do the Orioles tend to business during this offseason? Because teams will be calling about Pete Alonso, and Pete Alonso gives Baltimore a huge reason to say no. We know that. He is fantastic. An elite hitting profile. That's not his numbers right there. These are 884 OPS. Again, fantastic. And if you look at what's said about his production, Tony Rominsky of the score, the 31-year-old led the AL in homers and RBIs in his first season with the team. We know he's amazing. But if you're retooling, does the productivity really fall into the vision? The question becomes, are the Orioles retooling in order to compete, or are they flirting with a rebuild here? This has been several seasons now where the team has fallen short of expectations. They thought that bringing in, at time, the 30-year-old first baseman Pete Alonso would really push them over the top, and it wasn't Alonso's fault. They had regression from Gunnar Henderson. You know, they haven't gotten consistent, healthy seasons from, you know, Westberg at second base. They haven't gotten what they wanted to see from Jackson Holiday, necessarily. There's been a lot of top prospects that have come through the Orioles organization in recent years, and they haven't panned out. And all of a sudden, you know, those guys are starting to hit arbitration. Those guys are building up the service time, and it hasn't panned out. As for the Mets, they're retooling, but we know that they are looking to compete, and this reunion would change the Mets lineup drastically. If you look at the weaknesses for David Stern's lineup, it really comes down to the power. It really comes down to the power, because outside of Francisco Lindor, outside of Juan Soto, who weren't healthy at times this season, the Mets did not have consistent power in their lineup day in, day out. And it was, you know, just another whole home year for Pete, obviously better than his career norms, but what he does do, and what you know you're getting from Pete Alonso, is that he will play every single day. There is no doubt about that. That has got to be... A factor in this equation. You look at his Mets legacy and it speaks for itself. The all-time home run leader. If we look at why he left in the first place, it's clear the Mets never made a formal offer to him. And that's where Steve Cohen needs to step in. Steve Cohen has said when Pete Alonzo returned to Citi Field, he said, this will always be home for you when speaking about and to Pete Alonso. And... David Stearns led the charge in not bringing back Pete Alonso, but Steve Cohen can override that. And I don't believe that this one year has fractured the relationship. I believe now it sets up a possibility in which the Mets, who need an upgrade at first base, do not have someone who can come up and help them immediately in the minor leagues, and do not have necessarily a great chance of upgrading through free agency because you look at who the major league baseball free agents are you have Jake Bowers outside of that leaves something to be desired and Teruaki Sato he is going to get most likely well over 20 million dollars a year the Mets have reportedly been more lukewarm on him since retaining Bo Bichette and I understand that Pete Alonso is paid more but I believe he is more of a slam dunk than those guys and a better player most likely. I know with Sato it's a little bit of an unknown but you know exactly what you're getting from Pete Alonso. There's absolutely a trade barrier and the Mets are going to have to give up quite a lot but if you are the team and there is even a sliver of a possibility despite how outrageous and Hollywood-esque this storyline would be they have to explore a trade for Pete Alonso. They have to consider the fact that The Orioles are using this exemption of Pete Alonso in their trade talks as a negotiation strategy and also decide, are they willing to do whatever it takes to win? Because if they are, they're willing to give up guys like Mitch Voigt. They're willing to give up guys like Jefferson Rojas. You have to give to get. So the decision checklist is the power worth a premium. I believe it is. You look at the market and I totally believe it is. Which top prospects are off limits? Frankly, none of them in my mind. I don't say to give up all of them. But I don't think the Mets have a level of blue-chip prospect that's so unmissable at this point in time where they absolutely can't include that. They also have multiple top prospects at similar positions. So it's not as if if they give up Jefferson Rojas, all of a sudden they don't have anybody else who could possibly replace Marcus Simeon. You still have Mitch Voigt there. Does the deal solve more than one roster need? Depends on how you, you know, depends on how you think about it, because they need a first baseman and they need power. So that does solve multiple needs. Can the Mets walk away if Baltimore says no? Obviously they can, but the Mets, we know, need a legitimate solution to A, the power void, and B, the fact that they do not employ a viable everyday first baseman on the roster for a team that is looking to compete. So let me know what you guys think down in the comments below about this. And as always, let's go Mets.