Is a Blue Jays division title enough to rekindle some interest from this soon-to-be free agent?

When the Toronto Blue Jays captured the American League East division title in 2025, it meant a lot to the team. In doing so, it gave the Jays a bye during the Wild Card round to give them one less opponent to worry about, as well as giving some extra time for some of their ailing players to get healthy for the ALDS. In addition, it gave them home-field advantage right through to the ALCS, which is massive given their substantial winning record at the Rogers Centre.

But winning the division could mean even more for the Blue Jays heading into the offseason, as it could potentially help rekindle some interest from a soon-to-be free agent star. That player is none other than New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.

There’s no question any team would be interested in adding the star slugger. After all, Alonso had put together another fantastic season in 2025 by posting a .272 average, .871 OPS, along with 87 runs scored, 38 home runs and 126 RBIs while playing in all 162 games for the Mets for a second consecutive year.

Is a Blue Jays division title enough to rekindle some interest from this soon-to-be free agent?

More importantly, earlier this week, Alonso indicated that he is opting out of his current contract with the Mets and will be heading to free agency this offseason. From conversations with reporters, Alonso says as much as he wants to return to New York and believes that they have the pieces to be competitive, it appears as though his main focus going forward is winning and wanting to put himself in the best chance at capturing a World Series championship.

"I’ve loved being a Met, so hopefully they’ve appreciated me in the same (way) … I think the biggest thing is, I want to win,” Alonso said. “I know we didn’t this year, but we had the right pieces I think, we just didn’t do it. At the beginning of the year, you just want to have the best possible chance to hold up the trophy at the end and see yourself being a champion. So for me, it’s why I do this. I want to be on top of the mountain. I want to win a World Series. That's the ultimate goal.”

With that, it should make the Blue Jays a strong contender for his services this offseason. If Alonso wants evidence of success and winning, the Jays just did so by capturing the AL East with an elite 94-68 record. In doing so, it also represents Toronto making the postseason for the third time in the past four years, and four of their past six.

As for the Mets, by bombing out the last few weeks of the 2025 MLB season, they have now missed the postseason in two of the past three seasons. More significantly, New York hasn’t been part of the playoffs in five of the seven years that Alonso has been with the club for his career. And even when they did make it, the Mets were never division champs and had to run the gauntlet through the Wild Card route.

In addition, Alonso was already a target of the Blue Jays just the previous offseason before the 30-year-old slugger decided on returning to the Mets on a two-year contract to give his old team another shot. But with a player option on the second year, Alonso has now eluded to opting out of the deal to explore the upcoming free agent market.

If the Jays can show their keen interest in his services once again, now backed by a strong year of success rather than a year of disappointment the previous time, it could just be enough to tip the needle in their favour this time around.