Polar Bear Prowls Halls Of Winter Meetings Seeking Big Contract

Not only are the Baseball Winter Meetings flooded with managers, executives, and owners but also free agent players planning personal meetings with potential new teams.

Among those walking the halls of Orlando’s Insignia Hotel is Pete Alonso, a power-hitting first baseman who has played the complete 162-game schedule two years in a row.

Fans Excited

A fan favorite in New York, where Mets fans dubbed him “the Polar Bear,” Alonso drove to the massive baseball convention from his home in nearby Tampa. His entrance to the swank hotel excited dozens of autograph seekers who brought bags of baseballs just for such an occason.

Alonso has spent his career with the New York Mets but opted out of his current contract after the 2025 season ended. He is now seeking a deal richer in dollars and longer in years than his two-year, $54 million arrangement. The slugger opted out after 2025, the pact’s first season.

Coming off a 38-homer season that also included 126 runs batted in, Alonso celebrated his 31st birthday Sunday. The present he’d most like to receive is a new contract – perhaps from a team in the American League East.

Alonso met with representatives of both the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox since the annual confab opened over the weekend and is also expected to talk to the New York Yankees, according to multiple reports.

Although the Mets cherished his right-handed power, which followed lefty slugger Juan Soto in their lineup last year, they were not delighted with his defensive prowess – or lack of it.

David Stearns, the team’s president of baseball operations, has made no secret of his willingness to replace both Alonso and star closer Edwin Diaz, another free agent now courted by other clubs. The Mets have already signed free-agent closer Devin Williams, who could succeed Diaz as the ninth-inning man or serve as a set-up man if Diaz returns.

Friendly Fenway

Alonso’s swing seems to be a perfect match for The Green Monster, the 37-foot wooden wall that towers over left field in Boston’s Fenway Park. His power would also be welcome in Baltimore, where the Orioles moved their left-field fence 26 feet closer to home plate last spring.

Other potential landing spots for Alonso are the Philadelphia Phillies, who are willing to return Bryce Harper to right field after a couple of seasons at first base, and the Yankees, who have a hole at first base in the wake of Paul Goldschmidt’s free agency.

Philadelphia, like Boston, plays in a bandbox ballpark that begs for a plethora of power-hitters. Yankee Stadium, on the other hand, is built for left-handed sluggers with its short right-field fence.

Alonso is actually Plan B for a myriad of power-seeking clubs pursuing Kyle Schwarber, whose 56 home runs for Philadelphia last year led the major leagues.

Unlike Alonso, Schwarber is a left-handed hitter whose best position is designated hitter. But he’s three years older than Alonso and could have a harder time landing the long-term contract he seeks.

Schwarber, who will turn 34 before the start of the 2026 season, has already been offered a four-year, $100 million contract by the Pittsburgh Pirates, previously a penny-pinching ballclub.

Lineup Balance

The Mets also want Schwarber – setting up the possibility of a player-orchestrated team transfer with Alonso. But New York has already traded Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien in an effort to balance a lineup that had leaned heavily left-handed.

Another free agent slugger coveted by both New York teams is Cody Bellinger, a lefty hitter who spent last season wearing Yankees pinstripes. Bellinger, who can play first base or any outfield position, is also considering an offer to rejoin the Los Angeles Dodgers, for whom he once won the National League’s MVP award. He offers the defensive prowess that Alonso and Schwarber lack.

Although the winter meetings are off to a slow start relative to player movement, the widespread feeling among agents, executives, and media members is that once a major player or two come off the board, others will follow in quick sequence.

The Baseball Winter Meetings conclude Thursday morning.