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Report: Red Sox might meet face-to-face with Pete Alonso at Winter Meetings
Pete Alonso has averaged 42 home runs and 114 RBI over his seven-year career.
A Red Sox team in desperate need of more pop at the plate could be setting themselves up for an in-person meeting with one of the top sluggers on the free-agent market this week.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, first baseman Pete Alonso is making the trek from his home in Tampa and will attend MLB’s Winter Meetings in Orlando in person to speak with interested suitors this week.
According to Heyman, both the Red Sox and Orioles are among the teams scheduled to meet with Alonso on Tuesday.
However, a source close to Alonso told MassLive’s Sean McAdam on Monday that it was “Possibly, (but) not confirmed yet,” that the Red Sox were one of the teams set to meet with Alonso.
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Alonso, 31, is one of the most coveted players on the market this winter given his established track record as a potent power hitter. The right-handed slugger has averaged 42 home runs and 114 RBI across his seven-year MLB career with the Mets.
Even if Alonso is not regarded as a stout defensive first baseman, he would address an evident need for a Red Sox club that ranked 15th in MLB last season in home runs (186) — and slugged just one across three playoff games against New York in October.
Alonso’s durability would also be a welcome sight for a Red Sox roster that has been hampered over the last few years with Triston Casas’ multiple run-ins with the injury bug. Alonso has played a full 162 games in each of the last two seasons, and has missed 10 total games over the last four years.
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With Alex Bregman also hitting free agency this winter, the Red Sox have several areas across their infield to address — especially when it comes to adding more power to a lineup currently anchored by younger players like Roman Anthony.
Alonso has been linked to Boston several teams already this offseason.
The All-Star has “told friends” that he has the Red Sox “high” on his list of possible destinations in free agency this offseason, The Boston Globe‘s Pete Abraham reported.
Given Boston’s needs for more power hitters moving forward, it should come as little surprise that the Red Sox have been linked to other top free-agent sluggers this offseason — including Kyle Schwarber and Bo Bichette.
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