Yankees Signing of Projected $174 Million Star Slugger Gets Grim Warning

Going back to the spring, there has been a theory floating around baseball in the Big Apple suggesting that the two big-name, big-ticket sluggers anchoring the lineups of the city’s two MLB teams–the Yankees and Mets–would eventually swap places.

The Mets would engage in a blank-check pursuit of Yankees outfielder Juan Soto and, once they lost out on Soto, the Yankees would move to sign star first baseman Pete Alonso, giving the Bombers another middle-of-the-order bat who can handle the scrutiny of New York. In mid-April, in fact, insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post, wrote a story headlined, “Juan Soto and Pete Alonso could trade places in free agency mega-swap scenario.”

The headline pretty much says it all.

And yet now, seven months later, that seems to be a longshot. The Mets could very well sign Soto, and the deep pockets of owner Steve Cohen might well be the biggest obstacle to a Bronx return for Soto. But the second half of the proposition–the Yankees pursuing Alonso–is looking a bit shakier.

In fact, the Yankees might be better off looking elsewhere altogether if they miss out on Soto.

Pete Alonso a Top-Level MLB Slugger

That’s the thrust at SNY, which looked at Alonso as a potential Yankees free-agent target this week. The pros of signing Alonso are obvious: He is a slugger of the first order, with a career homers-per-162-games average of 43. He is a four-time All-Star, and just knocked 34 homers in 2024.

But the cons are significant, and after a so-so season in which he had an OPS of .788, there might be some reluctance on the part of teams–the Yankees and others–to go too deep on Alonso. Defensively, he does not play a premium position and does not play his position well, he strikes out a lot, he is slow of foot and he turns 30 years old in December.

That’s why, at SNY, they’re coming down as firmly against the Yankees signing Alonso as a backup plan to losing out on Soto.

Yankees a ‘Bad Fit’

As SNY analyst Phillip Martinez wrote, “Alonso might be the highest-profile hitter this offseason not named Soto, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good fit with every team. And that includes the Yankees. While his offensive upside is great, the Yanks need to improve their defense, not regress. Alonso would also require a lot of money from a team that needs to fill more than one hole — especially if Soto signs elsewhere.”

There’s another factor at play, too. The Yankees’ long-term plan is to move Aaron Judge from the outfield and preserve him as a first baseman. Committing to an Alonso deal–Spotrac projects him at six years, $174 million–pushes that move back beyond where the Yankees would like.

“With Judge potentially moving to first base, a 30-year-old Alonso would just be in the way of that plan,” Martinez wrote.