4x Gold Glover wants 'polar bear' Pete Alonso to take Yankees legend Bernie Williams' unique approach during free agency

Pete Alonso and the New York Mets have not finalized a reunion as Spring Training approaches. His agent Scott Boras and Mets management, including owner Steve Cohen, are locked in a stalemate. Alonso could try to solve the matter himself, taking a page from Bernie Williams' book.

Speaking on the "Diggin' Deep" podcast on Wednesday, the Yankees legend recalled the time when he pleaded his case in front of then-owner George Steinbrenner. In the 1998-99 offseason, Williams was a free agent after coming off a .339 season at the plate with 26 homers and 97 RBIs. After eight years in the majors with New York, he wanted to remain a Yankee.

However, the team had other plans and wanted to replace him with Albert Belle. That was when Williams took matters into his own hands and directly talked to Steinbrenner. He proceeded by putting forward his demands.

“‘You can call George yourself and talk to him," Williams said. "Call him at his house and just plead your case. And that’s exactly what I did. 'This is Bernie Williams, I know, never ask anything for you or from you, but you know for a fact that I want to be a Yankee, and you know for a fact that you want me to be a Yankee, so let’s cut all this middleman stuff, and let’s just talk mano a mano. Let’s make this happen.'"

“He said, ‘Okay, so what do you want? I said, 'I want Piazza’s money.’ At the time, Mike Piazza signed with the Mets with a similar contract that was kind of close to the numbers that I was kind of looking at."

The Yankees and Williams ended up settling for a seven-year $87.5 million contract. The host of the podcast and former four-time Gold Glove winner, Eric Hosmer, said that Alonso, playfully known as the "Polar Bear," should follow Williams' footsteps and call Mets owner Steve Cohen.

"Might be time for the 'Polar Bear' to take this approach," Hosmer tweeted on Thursday.

Mets president makes his feelings known about Steve Cohen's role in Pete Alonso sweepstakes

Appearing on the CNBC Sports broadcast on Thursday, New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns gave his thoughts about Steve Cohen's comments about the Pete Alonso negotiations. Cohen had said that he was unhappy with the structures of the deal he was presented. Stearns appreciated the transparency from his boss.

"I don't know, I think that's something that we'd have to ask Steve about, but I think in general when he's in those environments, he wants to be open," Stearns said. "He wants to be as transparent as he can possibly be. But in terms of specifics of what he was referring to there, I'm not going to get into it."

The Mets reportedly gave a final offer of three-years for $70 million and it remains to be seen if either party makes any concessions.