Part of the reason why Pete Alonso returned to the Mets on a two-year bridge deal last winter was that his free-agent market was nearly non-existent, at least when clubs were presented with the slugging first baseman's list of demands curated by his agent, Scott Boras.

After opting out of the final year of his contract, which he made known moments after the Mets were eliminated on the final day of the regular season, Alonso's contractual needs remain the same: Long-term, big money. Whether that means seven years and $200 million or more remains to be seen.

Regardless, his prospects of getting such a contract should be better than they were a year ago after a 38-home-run, 126-RBI, .871 OPS campaign in 2025.

That is not happening as of yet, even with the Winter Meetings looming next week.

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