Mets welcome Alonso, but just for a visit

Peter Alonso got to Citi Field this week, but it wasn’t the September arrival he and Mets fans were hoping for.

Instead of getting big league at-bats and experience, exciting a fan base that had long ago given up on this season, the Mets’ top hitting prospect was sitting in the press room during a rain delay Wednesday answering questions about the team’s decision not to call him up this year.

The Mets exploded for a 13-0 rout over the Marlins once the game finally took place following the near-six hour delay, with Zack Wheeler picking up the win and Jay Bruce crushing a grand slam. The teams will meet again today for a single-admission doubleheader at 3 p.m.

“I had a conversation with a couple of the guys,” Alonso said, “It’s pretty much like a business decision, organizational decision. I respect that, I am just going to continue to get better.”

Alonso, who was at Citi Field being honored as the Mets’ minor-league player of the year, crushed 33 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A this season. At the Futures Game during the All-Star break, Alonso hit one of the most towering home runs that ballpark has ever seen. His ball went up over the foul pole and onto the concourse, creating a sensation among Mets fans.

As Justin Dunn, who won the Mets minor league Pitcher of the Year award, described him: “Pete see ball, Pete hit ball, Pete break ball.”

That power is one of the few reasons to give Mets fans hope about 2019. They clamored for him to get the call this September. Their cries were ignored.

In terms of the business of baseball, the Mets made the right decision for their future.

They will have to cut their roster to get down to 40 when the season is over. The Mets are not in danger of losing Alonso in the Rule-5 draft, so no sense in losing another player to the Rule-5 draft or be prevented from signing a free agent this winter because of a lack of roster space to protect him.