New York Mets 1B Pete Alonso among MLB stars who could use big second half heading into free agency

AP Baseball Writer

PHOENIX (AP) — Pete Alonso’s disappointing performance in this year’s Home Run Derby wasn’t a particularly big deal for the future of his big-league career.

His play over the next three months could be a different story.

The 29-year-old is one of the most coveted free agents in Major League Baseball for the upcoming offseason and could make himself a lot of money — or potentially lose a lot of it — depending on how he plays in the second half of the season.

Alonso played in his fourth All-Star game on Tuesday night, making the National League team despite a relatively lackluster first half. He’s hitting .240 with 19 homers and 51 RBIs and a career-low .772 OPS. Those numbers might be pretty good for most players, but for a man who wants to hit the market as one of the game’s elite players, it’s not up to his standards.

Alonso said he’s not worried about his personal situation. He just wants to play well so his New York Mets make the playoffs — which would happen if the season ended today.

“I don’t dwell on it at all because I’m just focused on winning games and I’m just really focused on doing what I can every single day to help the team in a positive way,” Alonso said. “I’m honestly just focusing on performing and doing the best I can to help my team win. I’m just focused on the season at hand.”

Here are a few other potential free agents who are looking to raise their stock in the second half:

1B Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals: Does the 36-year-old slugger have anything left in the tank for another contract? He was the National League MVP in 2022, but has regressed in a hurry since that point. The first baseman is hitting just .230 with 13 homers, 37 RBIs and a career-low .664 OPS.

3B Alex Bregman, Astros: The 30-year-old has bounced back somewhat from a very slow start, posting a .256 average, 12 homers and .730 OPS through 92 games. But those numbers are still below his career averages. A big second half would help ease fears that he’s on the downhill side of his career.

OF Juan Soto, Yankees: His first half hasn’t been a problem. Far from it. The 25-year-old was one of the game’s best players in the first half of the season, batting .295 with 23 homers and a robust .985 OPS. He’s been worth 5.0 WAR through 94 games. But if he can continue this pace, or even push it forward slightly, the bidding war in the upcoming offseason could be close to the Ohtani-style extravaganza of last offseason.

SP Walker Buehler, Dodgers: The two-time All-Star returned earlier this year from his second Tommy John surgery and things haven’t gone particularly well. The right-hander is 1-4 with a 5.84 ERA through eight starts, averaging just more than four innings per start. He was one of the game’s elite pitchers in 2021 and doesn’t turn 30 until later this month, but it’s fair to wonder if he’ll ever be the same.

Lack of offense

MLB has made major changes over the past few years in an effort to shorten games and juice offense.

The former has certainly happened. The latter? Not so much.

The season average of .243 heading into the All-Star break was just ahead of 2022 and 1968 as the lowest since the dead-ball era ended in 1920. The good news is the numbers are trending upwards — at least slightly.

The batting average has improved as the temperatures have climbed, moving from .239 in May to .250 in the first half of July. There’s little doubt an average in the .250s throughout the rest of the season would be a welcome sight for Commissioner Rob Manfred.

Wild card races

We’re nearly 100 games into this season and there are still 25 teams with legitimate playoff aspirations.

The National League wild card race is shaping up to be particularly tight. The St. Louis Cardinals (50-46), New York Mets (49-46), Arizona Diamondbacks (49-48), San Diego Padres (50-49), Pittsburgh Pirates (48-48), San Francisco Giants (47-50), Cincinnati Reds (47-50) and Chicago Cubs (47-51) are separated by just four games in the standings.

The Cardinals and Mets would make the playoffs if the season ended today.

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