Pete Alonso rejects $70,000,000 offer from NL East team, per MLB insider

In a last-ditch effort, the New York Mets offered free agent first baseman Pete Alonso a three-year, $68-$70 million deal, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, but Alonso's camp has rejected the deal.

Alonso's camp reportedly proposed a three-year deal with high AAV, but it was way out of length for the club. Thus, the club counter-proposed a three-year, $70 million offer, which is now reported to be rejected. Moreover, the proposal was said to have opt-outs in place, and negotiations to go slightly above $70 million were also on the table, The Post said.

For the Mets part, the offer was better because earlier this offseason, first baseman Christian Walker had signed a similar three-year deal for $60 million. Alonso's contract had $8-10 extra million on it, but it seems Alonso was looking much more than what the Mets were willing to offer to bring him back.

While the contract offer and negotiations have been going on for the last few months, it seems David Stearns has got enough of it as he pivots to Plan B. In the first plan of action, the club is finalizing a one-year, $7.5 million deal with Jesse Winker.

Moreover, the report in the New York Post said that the Mets will now allocate funds potentially kept to re-sign Alonso to bring on a reliever on board like Tanner Scott.

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If not Pete Alonso, how will New York Mets fill up first base?

The stretch in negotiations with Pete Alonso meant that the Mets had to lose other possible options available at first base. Those include Christian Walker and Paul Goldschmidt, who signed with the Astros and the Yankees in free agency. Moreover, the Guardians also traded away their first baseman Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

With Pete Alonso potentially not coming back, the club will look to shift Mark Vientos from third to first base. To address the void at third, they could look to promote Luisangel Acuña, Brett Baty or Ronny Mauricio to take over.

Moreover, the Mets could also look on the outside if a potential trade comes together in an attempt to bring Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from Toronto. MLB Insider Mike Rodriguez said on Wednesday that the club is putting together a trade offer to get the coveted first baseman to the Queens.

By not signing Pete Alonso this year, the Mets have kept the position open, and if they find someone fitting next offseason, probably Guerrero Jr, who would become free agent, they might look to splurge.