New York Mets: Pete Alonso not giving the Mets much of a choice

This entire Spring for the New York Mets has been almost like a circus with all that has been happening, but the one constant, Pete  Alonso raking, is everything but that. The Mets’ top prospect isn’t giving them much of a choice.

The New York Mets and Pete Alonso have been quite the duo this Spring. Really since late last season, he has been the top prospect the fans want to see, only Tim Tebow has been mentioned as much. However, that is not a coincidence. It is only because Alonso is making a legit name for himself.

Earlier in the offseason, it was the early assumption that he would not make the Opening Day roster. The whole extra year of control rule was and still is the biggest issue with him. However, as the days tack on, it might just be time to disregard that rule altogether. To address that, we must go way back.

As soon as General Manager Brodie Van Waganen came aboard he was all about winning now. All of his moves and splashes reflect that and he has openly said that.

At some point, he is going to have to address that if Alonso does not make the Opening Day roster. If he is trying to win now, which is actually great in theory, then how would he be able to justify keeping the best hitter from Spring Training, who has already raked in the minor leagues, down for the first weeks of the season, when the only reason for doing so would be to keep him later in the future?

Yes, we saw the Yankees do it with Gleyber Torres recently, and every MLB team does it yearly. However, the Yankees are deep and talented without Torres and the Mets aren’t focused on a rebuild anymore like a lot of teams in the league right now.

They need Alonso to play first because their other options might not be as reliable and they are at a point to win now and put the best players on the field no matter what. That is why they traded non-MLB ready prospects in a deal that included a 36-year-old Robinson Cano.

But, this stuff with Alonso is not coming out of excitement or hope. It comes from the fact that he is legitimately doing well in Spring Training, which is now no longer a small sample size.

This Spring, Alonso leads all qualified players on the team in average (.406), hits (13), and home runs (3). He is second amongst everyone in RBIs (6), third in at-bats (32), and tied for the lead with position players in games (11). Also among qualified players, he leads in slugging, on base percentage. Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis are the other qualifiers, so not shabby company for the rook.

So, Alonso should not be on the Mets Opening Day Roster because he is the top prospect or because most fans want to see it, he should be on the Opening Day roster because he is playing out of his mind against actual MLB players. The best part is, the Mets open on the road for the first six games too. They don’t come home until seven days after they open the season, so even with that narrative it makes sense.

The ideal thing about Alonso playing well is I that, I suppose, it does not matter if he is up or not. If he is not up right away, the Mets might still be okay and he gets that extra year of control which could work out. Or, if he is up he is proving he is a solid hitter and could help ignite the Mets to another hot start to the season. In neither of those scenarios it is really a loss?

However, Alonso is becoming hard to ignore. The wishfulness we all have for him to be great is not just a pipe dream. Jason Vargas is actually lighting it up this spring, yet he is rarely getting talked about, it is still all about Alonso.

The Mets might do whatever will save them the most money down the road, that is more or less how it always is. Plus, if Jed Lowrie is healthy he will likely play because he is Van Waganen’s offseason prize, that could cause a long jam in getting Alonso reps.

In addition to that, Dominic Smith should not be given up on either. He is young and having a solid spring himself hitting .407 with seven RBIs, a home run, and eleven hits. He is not a natural outfielder and is listed as first baseman right now too.

So is the path to the Opening Day roster for Alonso even clear? No, not by any means. Is there really a need for him on paper? No, I wouldn’t suppose that is the case either.

But, in after an offseason where Van Waganen and the Mets must walk the walk after they talked the talk, Peter Alonso might non give them a choice. He might be the best baseball player to play for the Mets by the time the season is here. He might not even give them that choice to send him back down anymore if he keeps this up.

I am probably going to talk about Pete Alonso a lot this summer. That is not even because I need to get use to calling him Pete instead of Peter at that point, it will be much like it is now, I might not be given a choice.

*Please Note: All stats prior to the Mets Tuesday, March 12 game vs the Marlins. Article written after Monday, March 11 game*