00:00Now we got to get to Pete Alonso, who hit number 253 to break a tie with Daryl Strawberry for the New York Mets all time home run leader.
00:09It was fun. Howie Rose quote tweeted a kind of sliding graphic of the Mets franchise history over the years and who the home run leader has been and the totals that have climbed.
00:19And like you see Piazza shoot up and then you see Howard Johnson shoot up and then you see David Wright shoot up there.
00:25And then Daryl Strawberry like stood alone for a while and Alonso, it happened so quickly.
00:30And Pete Alonso with a multi homer day on Tuesday gave himself sole possession of number one on the all time home run list as a New York Mets.
00:40Much like Schwarber being a Philly, I just posed that to you.
00:44I really don't see a world where Alonso is not a Mets for the rest of his career.
00:48And I know that was in question coming into this season. It should not be in question moving forward.
00:53I was about to bring that up. Like, don't let it be forgotten.
00:57And I don't want to be the guy that's harping on negative things.
00:59The Mets almost let this guy walk. Really, if his market didn't.
01:04What would be the word for like the opposite of materializing?
01:08Like it is all dissipate. If his market didn't dissolve the way that it did.
01:14And he just landed back into their laps. He would have went somewhere else, which is just crazy.
01:19And I know that you don't make decisions fully based on, oh, he's a Met or whatever.
01:23But I do think franchises like that, especially the Mets, should make decisions based on that.
01:29And Steve Cohen can make decisions on that. Like, I don't care what it costs. He's a Met.
01:34Yeah. Especially when you're throwing out a billion dollars almost for Juan Soto.
01:39So, it really is nice to see him in New York and doing this.
01:44And he should be a Met for life. And where would this team be without him?
01:47Let's just think about it from a pure baseball standpoint.
01:49Forget that it's great and rah-rah and it's great to have him back and it's been really cool.
01:54This team has slowed down of late.
01:56But what does it look like without him?
01:59What kind of protection does Juan Soto have without Alonzo?
02:01Even vice versa. But, I mean, it has been huge.
02:05When Juan Soto was a little bit human at the start of the season, like, what if you didn't have Pete Alonzo there?
02:10So, I think that's a big part of this whole thing.
02:14And I'm glad he's there.
02:16But this is another guy that he's going to make a push.
02:18He got a later start, but he's going to make a push to .500 too.
02:20Because clearly, he's not slowing down anytime soon.
02:23He's going to get his bag.
02:23And I know he's playing with a chip on his shoulder, so that's definitely helping.
02:26But he strikes me as a guy that's going to keep it rolling late into his career
02:30and just always be able to get these powerful swings off.
02:33Here's the thing that jumps out to me about Alonzo.
02:35You know, obviously, he started with that unanimous National League Rookie of the Year,
02:38and he had 53 homers his rookie year, drove in 120.
02:41Like, this guy drove in 131 in 2022.
02:44He hit 46 homers the next year in 2023.
02:47It was a down year in 2024, but it was still a 790 OPS and 34 homers that he played every game.
02:55And this year, he's tracking for another 35 homers, 120 driven in, and an OPS flirting with 900.
03:01And I look at this guy's career, and something that I value when you hit the market with him
03:07and it's time to negotiate that long-term deal to make him a Met forever,
03:11is not only is this guy productive in the power department of what you ask for,
03:15he's a bit of a throwback in that regard where, like, WRC Plus obviously matters.
03:20War matters.
03:21Matters more than any of the traditional counting numbers that you could possibly throw out.
03:25But Alonzo's role with the New York Mets feels like it's homers and RBIs,
03:29and this guy is better than most in Major League Baseball at homers and RBIs.
03:33So it's okay to make an exception on that front sometimes.
03:37But the thing that jumps out to me is games played.
03:40This guy debuted in 2019, and he played 161 games.
03:45Played 57 of the 60 in 2020.
03:47152 in 21, missed two games in 22, played 154 in 23, didn't miss a game last year,
03:56and hasn't missed a game this year.
03:59And that's something that jumps out to me.
04:01This guy has proven to be durable.
04:03Now he's getting to the other side of 30.
04:06You reward him for being available and good whenever he's on the field,
04:11and that's the kind of first baseman that I want to pay.
04:14Like, Vlade Jr. is a guy that you're comfortable paying
04:17because he's not only been productive,
04:20but he's been on the field for the entirety of his career.
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