Not all Mets fans love Steve Cohen.
Longtime – and long-suffering, I might add – Mets fan Joe Benigno blames Mets owner for why Pete Alonso won't re-sign with the team and appears to be headed elsewhere in free agency. did.
And he doesn't want to hear about specific 2026 free agents the Mets might target.
“Do you want Pete back? Absolutely. … Genius kid, (Mets director of baseball operations David) Stearns wanted him back because, let's be honest, he's smarter than anyone in this freak room.” I don’t want it.” Benigno said sarcastically on WFAN on Thursday.. “And I blame the owners.
“I thought Stevie Cohen understood the fan base, right? You know what they're pulling with this now, 'Oh, Vlad Guerrero.' I'm going to get Vlad Guerrero. “you know what? Ruin Vlad Guerrero. I want my man. ”
The Mets have seemingly unlimited funds under Coach Cohen, but they aren't opening their wallets to homegrown talent like Juan Soto.
The Mets have turned to Plan B, which so far includes Jesse Winker and AJ Minter after the teams were unable to agree on a long-term contract.
Alonso rejected the team's three-year deal in the range of $68 million to $70 million, which is significantly less than the extension he previously rejected, and would likely play elsewhere in 2025. is.
There's still a chance he'll return, but it's unlikely.
Benigno said he was “tired” of seeing his favorite team leave.
“We lost every big guy on our team, from Tom Seaver to Darryl Strawberry to Ray Knight to Kevin Mitchell to Daniel Murphy to Zack Wheeler to David Cone to Rusty Staub, except for David Wright. '' Benigno previously said. Mentioning the previous owner who let the fan favorite leave. “Now Stevie Cohen is doing the same thing. I'm insane.
“I blame Cohen. To me, it's on the ownership. Cohen should have a good understanding of this fan base. He walked around the nine yards wearing a Mets hat. It's your responsibility, Stevie, to get it back where it belongs.”
But it takes two to tango, and it's possible that Alonso will want to take the next step after these negotiations fall short of his expectations.
Mr. Benigno wondered whether Alonso needed to take the lead now to unite the party.
“Maybe it's time for Pete to get this done, call them and get his ass back where he belongs,” he said.
If the Mets don't sign Alonso, there will be a lot of speculation about the team waiting to sign Guerrero next offseason.
But they think they'll face competition, and lately it looks like the Dodgers are signing about everyone (yes, we know, they have Freddie Freeman, that's a joke… so Right? ).
For now, the Mets could move Mark Vientos or sign a lower-tier free agent to replace Alonso.
