There were reasons to expect Alonso might follow them down this road. Alonso reportedly turned down an extension offer of seven years and $158MM back in the summer of 2023. He still had one arbitration season to go at that point,

When New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso declared free agency after six seasons with the team that picked him in the second round of the 2016 draft, it was widely expected that he could command a contract worth about $200 million over seven years.