Mets Announcer Had Bleak Message for Fans After Pete Alonso Joins Orioles

Pete Alonso agreed to a massive five-year deal with the Orioles on Wednesday.
Pete Alonso agreed to a massive five-year deal with the Orioles on Wednesday. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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It's been a tough week to be a Mets fan.

First, the team said goodbye to star closer Edwin Díaz, who joined the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers on a three-year, $69 million deal.

Then on Wednesday an even bigger shoe dropped as slugger Pete Alonso agreed to a massive five-year, $155 million deal with the Orioles.

Not great.

Both losses made Mets fans rightfully upset. Alonso's departure was a crushing blow because in his seven years with the team he became a leader and face of the franchise. He set the franchise record for home runs with 264 and often came up big when his team needed him the most.

More: How Mets Can Replace Pete Alonso at First Base

Ron Darling, who has been calling Mets games for years on SNY and pitched nine seasons for the team during his MLB career, had a bleak message for fans shortly after the Alonso news broke.

“You’ve now paid, unless you get a bat, Juan Soto to walk 150 times a year. That’s what you’ve done,” Darling said. “These last two days have to really be hard on Mets fans.”

Soto, of course, signed a 15-year, $755 million deal with the Mets last offseason. He hit 43 home runs and had 105 RBIs in his first year with the team but he will no longer have Alonso hitting behind him in the lineup, which will likely make it easier for teams to pitch around him. The Mets could still add some weapons to help out Soto, but this is where they stand right now.

Darling had more to say about the Alonso and Díaz moves:

“I’m flabbergasted. I’m just, you know, the Díaz news was shocking, but you know the Dodgers get whatever they want,” Darling said. “But we reported yesterday that Pete, who lives in Tampa, was going to drive over here and meet with the Red Sox and meet with the Orioles. The Orioles were all in on Kyle Schwarber; that’s how Schwarber got the money from the Philadelphia Phillies, and they’re not messing around. The Orioles have said they want to land a big whale, and they did in Alonso.”

Here's Darling making those comments on MLB Network:

The Mets finished 83-69 this past season and missed out on the playoffs after an epic collapse in the second half of the year.

Now, two of their star players from that team are gone, and fans are left to wonder what's next for this franchise that hasn't won a World Series since 1986.


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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.