MLB free agency has gotten quiet with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up and not many significant players signing beyond expected returns of Josh Naylor to the Seattle Mariners and Raisel Iglesias to the Atlanta Braves. There’s always room for a bigger move in the coming days. New York Mets fans have their eyes in a couple of places with regular glances at Pete Alonso.
There haven’t been too many surprising announcements or declared solutions. No mystery team has appeared in the market to sign the Polar Bear.
Alonso seems to want a few things. The most money and length of contract appears important. So does what he’s able to accomplish on the field. Alonso has stated his desire to hit 500 home runs. Based on his own track record, the best place for him to land is, luckily for us, unavailable.
The Dodgers aren’t signing Pete Alonso, the Polar Bear might wish they could
Alonso is a career .333/.374/.720 hitter at Dodger Stadium. His 10 home runs is the most of any non-NL East team. In fact, it’s more than he has hit in Truist Park down in Atlanta and in about 100 fewer chances.
One team expected to make a play at Alonso this offseason, the Cincinnati Reds, have one of the better ballparks to hit in for righties. Their 121 home run ballpark factor for right-handed hitters was second in MLB over the last three seasons. First, at 135, is Dodger Stadium.
Chavez Ravine isn’t typically first thought of as a haven for hitters. The numbers don’t lie. While skewered for different reasons such as lousy pitching for the Dodgers in some cases, the sample size and consistency is there.
Clearly a mismatch for Alonso with Freddie Freeman at first base and Shohei Ohtani as a DH, there’s no chance of this ever happening. The Dodgers will be a pain for many Mets free agents and trade targets. Our beloved slugging first baseman isn’t one of them even if the numbers suggest he’ll have one of his clearest paths to swatting 500 home runs.
Add in regular trips to other NL West ballparks (except San Francisco) and balls that have died for Alonso at the warning track in the past are souvenirs.
