Darryl Strawberry disagrees with Pete Alonso leaving Mets for Orioles
Former New York Mets player Darryl Strawberry during a spring training workout on Monday. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Pete Alonso made a mistake — one that will haunt him after his career is over. At least that’s what Darryl Strawberry thinks.
“Pete could have broken all the records,” Strawberry said Monday after watching Mets batting practice on the Clover Park back fields. “He could have been at the top of every offensive category for this organization . . . One day, he's going to wake up just like I did and he’s going to regret" leaving New York.
Strawberry added that he was "really shocked that Pete would leave New York for Baltimore . . . People say, ‘Well, why? You left New York for L.A.,’ but you’ve got a different ownership. You’ve got an owner that really cares. You’ve got an owner that will work with you if you work with him.”
Strawberry, who left the Mets to sign with the Dodgers in 1991, has had plenty of time for introspection — though he very nearly wasn’t here to share it. He suffered a heart attack two years ago and then almost died in December after routine cosmetic dental surgery. He arrived home after the procedure and his weakened heart couldn’t handle the medication; he overdosed, and wouldn’t have survived if his wife, Tracy, hadn’t found him and called paramedics.
“I could have been gone if it was my time,” said Strawberry, 63. “I’ve got so much work to do and I’m going to [continue doing] all kinds of work helping people.”
For this week, though, he can enjoy the relative ease of spring training while also bemoaning what could have been. When it comes to Alonso and the Mets, “I think they both could have fought harder in that situation,” he said.
For one, Alonso could have chosen not to opt out of the second year of his contract, and instead maybe brokered a four-year extension. For another, president of baseball operations David Stearns, who didn’t even make Alonso an offer, could have been more amenable to compromise.
Either way, the Mets Hall of Famer believes that in the end, Alonso's five-year, $155 million contract will ultimately be cold comfort.
“I don’t leave New York to go to Baltimore,” Strawberry said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not [knocking] Baltimore, but I’m saying it’s not New York . . . He was on his way to something really special and great. You’re talking about surpassing me with the home runs, surpassing me with RBIs, passing David Wright with RBIs, too. He could have really elevated himself in the books and numbers. What guys don’t understand is that stands forever.”
Alonso’s 264 homers broke Strawberry’s team record of 252 last year. His 712 RBIs were 21 short of Strawberry's, and 258 shy of Wright’s franchise-leading 970 RBIs.
Moving to Baltimore also likely means the Mets won't retire his number 20, Strawberry noted — partially because he never won a championship with New York.
“He left before the miracle happened,” Strawberry said, adding that he didn’t know if Alonso felt disrespected by the organization. Alonso first turned down a seven-year, $158 million extension in 2023, intent on testing free agency after the 2024 season.
But a down year and a dry market meant a return to the Mets, this time on a team-friendly, two-year deal with an opt-out, which he exercised. There appeared to be little love lost between Alonso and the front office, though, with the first baseman pointedly saying after Game 162 that he hoped the Mets appreciated him as much he appreciated them.
That said, if Alonso does end up regretting the move, it likely won’t be any time soon. Last week he told Newsday that “there’s no need to think about the what-ifs and the hypotheticals because I’m so appreciated here . . .
“To where it’s like I feel so comfortable, so awesome with this group, that I don’t need to look back,” he added.
Still, “there’s no greater place to win [than] New York,” Strawberry said. “People don’t understand that because they haven’t done it . . . New York is different. New York people [have] compassion and they’ll stay with you, [but they’ll also] run you out of town if you don’t have any guts. I left town. They didn’t run Pete out of town. He left town. It’s a big difference.”
Even though he’ll miss Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz, Strawberry is impressed with the job Stearns has done to rebuild the team.
“He knows baseball,” Strawberry said. “A lot of people discredit what he’s done with this team, but he’s got a lot of players that can play. Are some of them out of position right now? Yeah. Are they going to learn new things? Yeah. It’s baseball, but they’re baseball players. They’ll figure it out. Are there going to be some ups and downs? Of course there is . . . What they’ve done is that they’ve gotten themselves more contact hitters and more guys that can put the ball in play.”
He particularly praised the additions of Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien — the latter of whom won a World Series with the Rangers in 2023.
“Leadership is your everyday players that go out there and know how to play the game,” Strawberry said. “I’m not saying they didn’t have that the last couple of years, but they just fell apart, because you're too good not to be able to win the division. It’s always [Atlanta] or the Phillies, and it’s like, where are the Mets?”
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
