Turns out a Phillies’ NL East rival nearly made a franchise-altering trade at this year’s deadline

In a recent article by The Athletic (subscription required), it was revealed that the Philadelphia Phillies’ divisional rival New York Mets nearly made a huge trade at the deadline that would have had huge implications on the franchise’s future. Sources indicated that the Milwaukee Brewers made a desperate push to acquire three-time All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso from the Mets.

As one would recall, the Mets had a huge exodus of players at the trade deadline, including veteran closer David Robertson, and bonafide superstar pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, along with versatile outfielders Mark Canha and Tommy Pham, as it seemed like everyone was available if the offer was right.

Apparently, in order to obtain the services of Alonso, the Brewers needed to part with at least one of their top five prospects in the system. From the Brewers’ side of things, they believed a deal nearly came to fruition in the end, whereas the Mets claimed it was not even close.

Alonso has been the Mets’ main offensive producer for the past few years, ever since he won NL Rookie of the Year honours back in 2019. He is certainly one of the top power-hitting, run-producers in the league, as he led the NL in home runs with 53 in 2019 and in RBI with 131 just last year. For the past five seasons, he has averaged over 40 home runs and 100 RBI, with an OPS consistently over .800 throughout his career. As a result, trading away the centerpiece of the Mets’ offence would have had drastic repercussions for the franchise if it indeed materialized. It would have significantly weakened the makeup of the Mets for the foreseeable future as they most likely would have needed a short rebuild to regain their contending status.

However, Alonso did express that he has loved and enjoyed his time playing with the Mets, but whether or not he remains in their long-term plans will be up to management to decide. Perhaps being one of their rare homegrown talents that have blossomed into a star, the Mets should really think it over carefully before they finalize their decision on Alonso’s future with the team.

Nevertheless, the Phillies will now need to face the riled up Alonso when they play the Mets seven times in the last ten games of the season. Hopefully at that time, Alonso doesn’t take out his anger and frustrations on the Phillies to show off to the Mets what they would be missing in the future if they were to proceed in dealing him away.