"If Pete Alonso was born in the 70s or early 80s, he'd be fine" - MLB insider sheds light on modern front office's perception of 4x All-Star

It's difficult to believe that Pete Alonso, a four-time All-Star and Home Run Derby champion, remains unsigned as a free agent with less than a month to go before the reporting of players takes place in Spring Training facilities.

On Friday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post, on The Michael Kay Show, discussed why Alonso, despite having the profile of an established hitter, isn't commanding significant interest.

"There are very limited places for him to go, and I would say there are zero places for him to go for what he perceived his value might be when this process began," Sherman said (1:50 onwards).

"There is nothing that the modern front office dislikes more than a right-handed-hitting first baseman in their 30s with limited or no baserunning, defensive, or athletic advantages. Their models just hate it."

Sherman pointed to former players like Greg Vaughn, Richie Sexson and Chris Davis, who received lucrative contracts when the front office used to see things differently, but times have changed now.

"I wrote this a couple of days ago — literally 25 offseasons ago, Greg Vaughn signed the largest free-agent contract. Greg Vaughn was an outfielder, but he was a very limited outfielder," Sherman added.

"He was Pete Alonso—he could hit home runs. You know, Richie Sexson once got a big contract. Nine offseasons ago, Chris Davis got a big contract. If Pete Alonso was born in the '70s or early '80s, he'd be fine. But that's not how this marketplace sees him. It all began to work against him."

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If Pete Alonso goes back to the Mets, it'll be "face-saving": Joel Sherman

Joel Sherman highlighted why Pete Alonso now appears to be considering a return to the Mets.

"I think now he's batting his eyes at the Mets again because, in a way, it’s a place to go," Sherman added.

"It’s a place of comfort, but it’s also a little bit face-saving, right? At the end of the day, you go back there, and you can do the pledge—‘Well, I never wanted to leave. I had offers elsewhere that I turned down,’ whatever."

Eventually, what Sherman wanted to point out was that Alonso having a tough time in free agency was expected and that "the modern baseball world doesn't like the profile of this player."