Pete Alonso going to Baltimore was not just bad news for New York Mets fans. But now that the Orioles have added a 40-homer middle-order force, it’s also a problem for the New York Yankees and the American League East.
But it's not just that the division just got stronger that should worry Yankees fans. Alonso’s five-year, $155 million deal with Baltimore gives the Mets a new opening to chase Cody Bellinger.
And that suddenly puts t he Yankees in a spot they didn’t expect to be in.
When last season ended, a Yankees-Bellinger reunion felt almost inevitable. He’s a left-handed bat made for Yankee Stadium’s short porch. He can play first base alongside Anthony Rizzo or slot into a corner outfield spot — two areas New York needed to upgrade. The fit made too much sense.
But this winter, the Yankees have been extremely conservative financially while other clubs have become more aggressive. Mets ownership, reeling from losing Alonso and Edwin Diaz, now has a reason — maybe even a mandate — to respond. And Bellinger checks every box they suddenly need.
SNY insider Andy Martino expressed the shift clearly, noting that once Alonso left, the Mets emerged as a real threat to “get Bellinger away from the Yankees” in free agency.
The Mets don’t need to squint to see the appeal.
The one-time National League MVP hit.272 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI last season while providing above-average defense in both the outfield and at first base. He immediately becomes the best middle-order bat available who fits multiple roster holes — something the Mets can’t ignore now.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have watched three major AL East rivals get better. The Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox addressed pitching weaknesses. The Orioles just landed the Mets’ franchise slugger. And the Mets — the team across town that swooped in and signed Juan Soto out from under them last winter — are now in position to pull off the move the Yankees once seemed destined to make.
Alonso's leaving didn’t just shift the balance in Queens. It shifted the race for Bellinger — and the Yankees might already be chasing from behind.
