Chicago Cubs listed as a destination for this slugging first baseman

An early name in the Chicago Cubs rumor mill this off-season has been New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.

Though, it remains to be seen how available Alonso will be this off-season. New York Mets' new president of baseball operations David Stearns told reporters during his introductory press conference that Alonso will be the team's opening-day first baseman in 2024.

There have even been recent reports that the Mets would be seeking a possible contract extension with Alonso this winter rather than trading him before the final season of his current contract. Alonso is now represented by Scott Boras and Boras did his annual media scrum at the General Manager's meetings this past week where he addressed a possible extension for the slugging first baseman.

This is not the first time that Boras has talked about what Alonso's potential asking price would be. In earlier comments, Boras seemed to suggest that he was looking to top the previous contracts that he negotiated for some of his clients who were premium first basemen.

With that in mind, it would seem that an extension before Alonso reaches free agency next winter is unlikely. That has continued to provide fuel to the speculation that the Mets will trade Alonso this off-season. Alonso was among the players that former Major League Baseball general manager Jim Bowden listed for his latest piece in The Athletic (Subscription required) where he ran down 10 trade candidates this off-season. The Cubs were listed among the suitors for Alonso in Bowden's piece.

The biggest need that the Mets have this off-season is for starting pitching and that would seem to fit well with the prospects that the Cubs have available to offer in a potential trade. The issue for the Cubs, much like the debate they will need to have in a possible trade for Juan Soto, they will have to balance the risk of losing their pitching depth for only one season of an elite hitter.

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