Inside The Mets

Steve Cohen says Pete Alonso dominated final Mets free agency talks over Scott Boras

Mets owner Steve Cohen discussed how Pete Alonso took over the final rounds of his free agency discussions over his agent Scott Boras.
Grant Young|
Dec 12, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen speaks during right fielder Juan Soto's introductory press conference at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Dec 12, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen speaks during right fielder Juan Soto's introductory press conference at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Scott Boras, the notorious agent extraordinaire who represents Pete Alonso, got into something of a verbal spat at the end of January.

“We made a significant offer to Pete,” Cohen said during a January 25 Amazin' Day fan fest event at Citi Field. He later added, "Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. I mean, Soto was tough. This is worse. I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. It’s highly asymmetric against us. And I feel strongly about it.

"I don’t like the negotiations. I don’t like what’s been presented to us," he added.

This prompted a response from Boras, who said, “Pete’s free-agent contract structure request are identical to the standards and practices of other clubs who have signed similarly situated qualifying-offer/all-star level players. Nothing different. Just established fairness standards," in a January 25 article from The Athletic's Will Sammon.

Ultimately these sides were able to come to terms, given that Alonso has re-signed with the Mets. However, during his February 17 appearance on the Meet at the Apple podcast, Cohen conveyed that this reunion was because Alonso stepped up to the plate in the final round of free agency negotiations.

"Well, it was my idea," Cohen said of the summit conference between all parties that eventually ended up with Alonso re-signing. "I just felt that the negotiation had gone on so long, I just wanted to make sure that he heard from us how we felt about him. I just felt like he deserved that respect. He has been a great Met for a long time, he's a fan favorite, and I thought there was a real opportunity to sit down with him and kind of hash it out.

"And so David and I flew down to Tampa, had a great conversation over a few hours, and frankly, Pete did all the talking," Cohen added.

"Scott Boras was there and Scott didn't say a freaking word the whole time! And it was like I turned to him, I go, 'I just want to make sure... you're still breathing over there!'"

It had been said all along that Alonso wanted to remain with the Mets, and this final discussion — which was led by Alonso — ultimately ensured that occurred.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Mets and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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