After the impressive moves the New York Yankees have made, their biggest need is certainly adding a first baseman after declining Anthony Rizzo’s club option. Whether the Yankees want to spend a lot of money on a first baseman or trade for one, there are multiple players available.
There’s always a possibility of the Yankees giving it to an internal option, but that would be questionable, given the first base position has been a problem for much of the past year and a half.
The Yankees have shown interest in multiple players at the position, indicating their willingness to sign more free agents after what they’ve done. Pete Alonso, who one could argue is the best player available out of the remaining first baseman on the market, is someone the Yankees have shown interest in.
The only issue with Alonso and the Yankees could be his contract, but if they believe he’d be an upgrade, they might be willing to hand out a massive contract.
Ryan Finkelstein of Just Baseball predicted he’d land a six-year, $140 million deal, much lower than most expect.
“Since making his debut in 2019, only one player in Major League Baseball has hit more home runs than Pete Alonso. That player is Aaron Judge. Meanwhile, no one has driven in more runs than Alonso. Alonso is a consistent source of power, where you can almost pencil him in for 40 home runs and 100 RBIs each year. Alonso cleared both of those marks in 2022 and 2023, but failed to reach those marks in 2024…
“Alonso hit a massive come-from-behind home run against Devin Williams to help the Mets advance in the NL Wild Card round and went on to hit three more across a postseason run where he posted a .999 OPS. The biggest question now is if those moments where Alonso’s last in a Mets uniform,” Finkelstein wrote on December 17.
Yankees Showing Interest in Multiple Players
Alonso isn’t the only first baseman the New York Yankees are interested in. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, they’ve been engaged in talks with the four big-name first-base free agents.
“While the New York Yankees are at a stalemate with the Chicago Cubs for OF/1B Cody Bellinger, they have turned their attention to the first-base market.
“They are engaged in talks with 4 free-agent first basemen: Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Carlos Santana and Paul Goldschmidt,” Nightengale wrote on December 17.
Outside of Christian Walker, Alonso is the best player among the four at this point in their careers. Statistically, he’s been a better player than Walker throughout his career, but Walker’s contract will likely come in much lower than his, so one could suggest he’d be the better fit.
Yankees Should Feel Excellent if They Sign Alonso
If the New York Yankees wrapped their offseason up by signing Alonso, they should feel confident heading into next year.
After losing Juan Soto, things seemed like they might’ve been heading in the wrong direction. Instead, the Yankees front office did an excellent job of adding talent, and with one more addition like Alonso, one could make an argument that they’d be a better team than they were last year.
The Florida native, who’s hit at least 34 home runs in all five of his full seasons, would be a great addition to the middle of this lineup. When Alonso is at his best, he’s a 40-plus home run guy, doing so in three of those five full campaigns.
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