Mets' Pete Alonso mistake continues to get louder

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The New York Mets let Pete Alonso leave for the Baltimore Orioles in free agency.

It was a bold move even at the time. Alonso is the Mets' all-time home runs leader for their franchise.

The Mets decided they didn't want to pay Alonso as much as he wanted. Maybe it was about prioritizing defense. Maybe it was just about a fresh start.

Either way, it's not working.

Alonso is raking for the Orioles. The Mets haven't even had the guy they hoped to play first base, Jorge Polanco, available very much.

"Pete Alonso missed a total of just 27 games in his entire seven-year career with the New York Mets, hitting 264 home runs," USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote in a new article on Sunday. "Jorge Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract to replace him, has missed 56 games and counting. He has one home run."

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It would've been bold for the Mets to expect Polanco to be exactly the same player as Alonso, but the hope was that bringing aboard Bo Bichette to play on the other side of the infield may make the overall package even out in the aggregate.

But with Bichette's struggles, the Polanco absence has loomed even larger.

Beyond that, the Polanco replacement Mark Vientos has been really bad, ranking among the worst players in baseball in Wins Above Replacement.

The Mets have had a lot go wrong after an offseason that saw them make a lot of changes. The first base situation is one of the ones that looms the largest.

Alonso was a legend for the Mets. His absence, as you might expect, hasn't gone well.

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