Alonso will get shot to win job at first
CARLSBAD, Calif. — A weekend visit to the Arizona Fall League has the new Mets general manager ready to give Peter Alonso a shot with the team.
Brodie Van Wagenen on Monday said the plan is to invite Alonso to spring training and give the 23year-old slugger a chance to win the first-base job. Alonso hit 36 homers last season split between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas and recently participated in the AFL All-Star Game and smashed a 103-mph fastball for a homer.
Last season Alonso was outspoken in his disappointment that he wasn’t among the Mets’ September callups. Van Wagenen said he visited Arizona in part to let Alonso know he’s held in high regard by the organization.
“[Alonso] is a real hard worker and he has a burning desire to succeed and he communicated that very clearly to me and I told him we are going to give him every opportunity to try to capitalize on that in the short term and the long term,” Van Wagenen said at the general managers’ meetings. “He will be going to big-league camp and we’ll try to get him as many at-bats as we can and we can make a decision in terms of how ready he is.”
Jay Bruce and Dominic Smith are other first-base possibilities for the Mets heading into next spring. But Van Wagenen said it’s possible he could also look out- side the organization for help at the position.
“I don’t think we would rule out anything,” he said. “We are going to be creative and we’re going to be openminded and see how we can compete now and in the long term and obviously from [Alonso’s] upside offensively and he’s made huge strides defensively, I give him a lot of credit for the work he’s put into it, but he’s a piece that can help now and in the future.
“Are we going to surround him with other players or is he going to be a complementary piece? We are in a position to find guys who can help us win games so I am not going to rule out anything at this point.”
Van Wagenen, a former agent, was asked about the practice of keeping players off the major league roster to begin the season to move back their free-agency clocks.
“My goal is to win as many games as we can, so my goal is to put the guys on the field that can help us do it,” Van Wagenen said. “The wins in April are just as important as wins in September.”