Five-Time All-Star First Baseman Signs with the Orioles
It was just reported by Jeff Passan that former New York Mets five-time all-star first baseman Pete Alonso has signed with the Baltimore Orioles on a five-year, $155 million deal. Alonso spent the first seven years of his career in New York, and with the team failing to meet expectations last season, the two-time Home Run Derby champ knew it was time to move on. The O’s newest first baseman is in the prime of his career at 31 years of age and hopes to make a lasting impact in Baltimore after they themselves failed to capitalize on their success from the past two seasons. The competition within the AL East is stacked, and each game against a division rival could truly feel like a postseason game with how close the AL East could be at the end of September.
Alonso played in all 162 games for the Mets last season. In 624 at-bats, the five-time all-star recorded 170 hits, 38 home runs, 126 RBIs, and one stolen base with a .272 batting average. While he walked 61 times and struck out 162 times, Alonso still had an on-base percentage of .347 and a slugging percentage of .524. New York finished 83-79 last season, and while they were second in the NL East, that wasn’t good enough to make the MLB Postseason. It’s certainly a disappointment from the year before, when they made the NLCS and pushed the eventual World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers to the limit in six games. The two-time Home Run Derby champion is ready to make the Orioles a postseason contender.
With teammates such as Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Jackson Holiday, now you add Alonso to the O’s lineup, this team is looking like a threat. Baltimore cranked 191 home runs in 2025, and that number could go up significantly with the development of Henderson, Rutschman, and Holiday, plus a two-time Home Run Derby champion in Alonso. They won over 100 games in 2023, won 91 in 2024, and even though they struggled last season, they still won 75 games. With a five-time all-star, the Orioles’ chances of being a great ballclub have shifted tremendously.
