Pete Alonso’s free agent journey is beginning to feel like a rerun. After a down year in 2021 for the New York Mets, Michael Conforto set off on his free agent journey only to see the impossible happen: he went unsigned.
An injury in the offseason was the eventual excuse made by his agent, Scott Boras. However, even before Conforto had gotten hurt, he wasn’t getting much free agency attention. The Mets had moved on by signing Mark Canha and Starling Marte prior to the lockout. Conforto was left with no choice but to sit out a year and receive a deal from the San Francisco Giants the following offseason.
Conforto made $18 million each of the last two years with a player option allowing him to stay in San Francisco for another season in 2024. A $17 million contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers now has him at $53 million over the last three years. One can wonder, what would he have made by now if he had accepted his rejected extension offer from the Mets?
Pete Alonso rejecting an extension offer from the Mets is history repeating itself
Conforto reportedly turned down an offer in the $100 million range prior to the 2021 season with the team willing to go as high as $120 million. The years of the offer are unknown. Five or maybe six at the most seasons seems like a reasonable guess.
If so, it’s not quite at the level of where Alonso is headed in his free agency drop off. Conforto has still gotten an AAV around what the Mets probably had offered. Anything between $20-25 seems reasonable. The rejection likely came down from the lack of guaranteed years which he’s still working to fulfill on a yearly basis.
Money is only one factor in free agency. As it seems Conforto is inching toward recouping the $100 million offer he rejected, the year-to-year approach is a dangerous one. Let’s not forget he lost an entire year where he could have made about $20 million or so. If the Mets had offered a five-year deal worth $100 million, it would mean he’ll be $17 million behind at the end of the 2025 season. Another injury or a further decline in play can reduce his AAV. Uncertainty of where he’s going to play might seem inconsequential to most fans when considering the amount of money he is earning. Still, it probably matters at least a little bit for every athlete.
Alonso and Conforto’s stay with the Mets mirror each other far too much. Each looked like “the guy” for a while only to be replaced by someone better; Conforto by Alonso and Alonso later by Francisco Lindor. Batmans who morphed into Robins, a free agency copycat is the final touch.
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