First baseman Pete Alonso is ticketed for a second consecutive trip through free agency, as he told reporters when the regular season came to a close that he intends to opt out of the final year of his contract and return to the open market. He won’t officially become a free agent until five days after the World Series concludes, whispers about Alonso’s asking price as he returns to the market have already begun to percolate. According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Alonso is expected to seek a contract at least a seven-year deal as he returns to free agency. It’s natural for players to set a high bar for contract negotiations entering free agency, but it would be something of a surprise if Alonso was able to secure that sort of arrangement. A seven-year pact would cover the slugger’s age-31 through -37 seasons, and that’s the sort of rarefied air that’s difficult for a defensively limited slugger to reach in free agency. Dodgers star Freddie Freeman is signed through age-37, but Freeman is an MVP winner
