There are hardly two Major League Baseball teams with less shared history than the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers.
Has there ever been a memorable Mets-Tigers moment? An infamous feud? A free agent who famously shunned one side in favor of the other? It's hard, as an admittedly middling baseball historian, to conjure any particular anecdotes.
But what if this offseason is the first time one side truly hates the other?
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso is a free agent, and there's a growing sense that the Tigers will push to add some stars to their young, inexpensive roster. While it would have seemed like a long shot a couple years ago, perhaps there's a world where Alonso to the Tigers makes sense.
Jacob Hitz of FOX 43 believes that moment is coming. Hitz recently predicted that Alonso would sign with Detroit this winter on a five-year, $130 million contract, leaving the Mets with a gaping hole at first base and 34 home runs to replace.
"I know some might like him heading to a division rival like the Nationals, but I think the Polar Bear heads to the Tigers," said. "That gives them the opportunity to move on from Spencer Torkelson and trade him away from some more pieces."
Alonso, 30, has 226 home runs since the start of 2019, second to only Aaron Judge in all of MLB. He didn't have his best season from a statistical standpoint, but he still poses a power threat that few others in the game can match, with a very high floor.
All season, Mets fans were operating under the uncomfortable reality that this could be the final time Alonso did anything in a Mets uniform. In Milwaukee, he turned what could have been his last Mets at-bat into a season-saving three-run home run. But leaving for the American League Central would seem oddly anticlimactic.
Regardless, if the Tigers are the only team willing to pay Alonso a certain dollar amount, whether it's $130 million or more, he'll certainly consider a move to the Motor City. If the Mets do let him walk, fans certainly have to hope it's because they're working on an even bigger signing.
More MLB: Mets beloved 4-time All-Star predicted to depart for Astros in free agency
