"You just hope and pray they work it out" - Mets legend Darryl Strawberry wants star slugger Pete Alonso to stay with franchise long term

Last Thursday, the New York Mets and first baseman Pete Alonso avoided arbitration hearings and agreed on a one-year, $20.5 million deal. This will be Alonso's last year under team control before he heads to free agency. Alonso has been everything that the Mets would have wanted and that's why many want the club to lock him up on a long-term deal.

Mets legend Darryl Strawberry shared similar sentiments on Alonso's future, which he discussed over a Zoom call on Wednesday:

“Some guys can sit here and don’t want players to break their records, but I hope players break my record because that means I have done something and you have done something too,” Strawberry said. [via the NY Post].

“[Alonso] has done that, he has performed at that level. You just hope and pray they work it out. That you go into a free-agent year, you have a big year and you are going to demand more.”

In the upcoming 2024 season, the Mets will retire Strawberry's No. 18 jersey on June 1 in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Strawberry hopes his case doesn't get repeated with Pete Alonso

Strawberry left the Mets ahead of 1991 in free agency after playing eight seasons with the club. To date, he still regrets this move, as he discussed it on SNY. Strawberry also mentioned that he hopes the same doesn't happen with Alonso and that the Mets should initiate discussions with him about his future:

“You leave a guy [Alonso] open like that, that is what happened to me,” Strawberry said. “I think the relationship with him and the organization is probably different, but I didn’t have a relationship with the front office when I hit that free-agency market. They left the door open for me and I just hope Pete doesn’t leave. I ended up personally with a belly full of regrets for leaving.

“There is nothing like playing in New York," Strawberry added. There is nothing like the atmosphere, nothing like the fans; nothing like being booed and letting fans let you know when you suck. That is part of it. That is either going to make you or break you … it was a big challenge for me to go forward and play like I used to play in New York after spending those eight seasons there.”

Strawberry added that the atmosphere in New York is vibrant and that Pete Alonso would like to stay long-term.