Pete Alonso bet on himself in 2025, and it paid off in a major way. Alonso agreed to a five-year, $155 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles, the team announced Thursday. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the deal Wednesday.
The contract comes a year after Alonso, 30, struggled to secure a long-term deal on the free-agent market.
With the move, the Orioles finally have their big-name free agent. Baltimore reportedly made a competitive offer for Kyle Schwarber before he signed a five-year, $150 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies and had contacted outfielder Kyle Tucker about a deal. With the Alonso deal, Baltimore finally got its star slugger.
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Alonso fits in well with the Orioles, who were looking for an upgrade over Ryan Mountcastle at first base. While Mountcastle has shown flashes as a hitter in the past, he was well below league average in that area last season. Alonso immediately gives the team a middle-of-the-order power bat capable of posting big numbers regardless of the ballpark. That should work out well in Baltimore, where righties have had a tough time hitting home runs since the team altered the wall in left field.
After failing to land the mega-deal he desired last offseason, Alonso signed a two-year, $54 million pact to return to the New York Mets. That deal contained an opt-out after the first year, allowing Alonso to test the free-agent waters again if he turned in a bounce-back season.
He delivered on that, hitting .272/.347/.524 with 38 home runs and a 144 OPS+ over 709 plate appearances with the Mets in 2025. It was a resurgent performance for the slugger, who entered free agency last season coming off a down year, in which he posted a career-worst 122 OPS+.
Those 2024 struggles, combined with Alonso’s age and position, resulted in teams staying away from the slugger in free agency. Alonso hit the market last offseason after posting his lowest home run total and slash line since the pandemic-shortened 2020 MLB season, which lasted just 60 games.
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In 2025, Alonso proved that some of that decline was a fluke. He took a more aggressive approach at the plate, reducing his strikeout rate in the process. Despite playing in one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in baseball, he managed to increase his slugging percentage by .080 points. His exit velocity exploded, ranking in the 97th percentile with a 93.5 mph average. That figure was nearly 3 mph higher than his previous career high.
Those changes, particularly his increased exit velocity, suggest Alonso’s improved performance in 2025 was due not to luck but to a shift in approach. If those improvements stick, Alonso should continue to provide solid pop despite moving to another pitcher-friendly park.
The Orioles are going to pay to find out.
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While the history of MLB teams handing out big deals to aging first basemen is littered with cautionary tales — hello, Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard — Alonso’s 2025 resurgence might’ve done enough to help him stave off decline for a few more seasons.
