The New York teams are going to be central figures in free agency once it officially opens at the conclusion of the World Series. That owes a lot to the internal decisions both have to make with integral players entering the market.
With that in mind, The Post is starting a five-part series going in depth about the cases for the key figures. We consulted with two front office officials and two agents not affiliated with the players to better understand the issues and markets.
Part 1: Pete Alonso.
The case for Alonso
He is an elite power hitter with top-of-the-game durability who has proved he can handle the largest market and the postseason. He was a free agent last offseason coming off a career-low 122 OPS-plus and with the qualifying offer (draft pick compensation) tied to him. His platform year this time is a 144 OPS-plus while being second in the majors in RBIs (126), third in doubles (41) and eighth in homers (38).