Pete Alonso had a much better walk year the second time around, which will make his market in free agency fascinating to follow.

Last offseason, with the qualifying offer attached to him to deter suitors, Alonso was only able to secure a two-year, $54 million deal that was expected to be a one-year deal after his opt-out. He went ahead and put together a 38-homer, 126-RBI campaign, and this time around, there could be no qualifying offer.

So did Alonso's good year convince the Mets they needed to keep him around for the long haul? Or did it simply boost other teams' confidence to give him the kind of long-term deal he sought last year, and not the Mets'?

One Mets insider believes the latter scenario is more plausible.

Pat Ragazzo, the Mets' beat reporter for Mets on Sports Illustrated,

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