Free agency questions have surrounded Pete Alonso all season. Does it weigh on him, though? Hardly! “All that stuff is meaningless—to me, at least,” he admitted a few days ago. As Alonso sees it, it’s all potentials and hypotheticals. Yet, on the night when the Mets took a crushing 3-2 loss to the Washington Nationals at Citi Field, the longtime first baseman was again pressed on whether his time in Queens is nearing an end.

With only two regular-season series remaining, the New York Mets don’t have control of their own destiny anymore for the final National League Wild Card spot. Even with this harsh reality hovering over the team, Pete Alonso left the game on Saturday night with a standout moment, as he received a standing ovation for what could be his last outing as a Met.

After the game, when asked if it entered his mind that this could have been his last time suiting up at Citi Field as a Met, Pete Alonso had a witty answer. “If I had a nickel for how many times everyone in this room has said that… I’d be really, really rich. I mean, again, we’ll see what happens.”

With an opt-out option in his contract after this season, it won’t be surprising to see that the 30-year-old will have quite the interesting market ahead this offseason.

Further, he added, “I’m a firm believer that the right thing is going to happen. You can’t necessarily control destiny. You can’t control what-ifs. But this place has been really special to me.” Probably, if the front office offers Alonso his desirable contract, Polar Bear would love to conclude his career in Queens.

Right from his 2019 MLB debut, Pete Alonso has established himself as a franchise icon for the club. Just last month, he crushed his 253rd home run, surpassing Darryl Strawberry atop the club’s leaderboard.

So, after all these years, it’d be strange to see him suit up for another team. Meanwhile, the Mets, who had a chaotic offseason last time with the Juan Soto sweepstakes, will be tasked with more stress this time if Alonso explores the market.

Will the Mets go to great lengths to keep Pete Alonso?

The 2025 season happens to be Pete Alonso’s seventh season with the Mets. He firmly established himself as one of the Mets’ all-time great sluggers in their history. Out of his 260 career home runs, 123 have been hit at Citi Field. Given the impressive record of the home run king, it must have felt overwhelming if it was, in fact, his last outing at Citi Field on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, this would be the second consecutive season that the Mets’ front office will face a dilemma with Pete Alonso.

Back in 2023, Alonso had rejected a seven-year, $158 million contract extension. It was offered to him by former Mets GM Billy Eppler. That had set him up for free agency the next year. Both the Mets and Alonso had visibly expressed interest in a reunion. Yet negotiations went on for a long time, and Alonso’s free agency didn’t turn out to be as flourishing as expected. So, finally, both parties agreed on a two-year, $54 million contract in February that included an opt-out after the 2025 season.

By next season, Alonso will be 31. He will be coming off a season that saw him hold a slash line of .274/.350/.526 with 37 home runs and 123 RBIs. And now, it’s widely believed that Alonso will opt out. That would consequently force David Stearns to decide whether he wants to pay their homegrown first baseman.