Mets lock up batting champion Jeff McNeil on four-year, $50M deal

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NEW YORK – Batting champion Jeff McNeil and the New York Mets finalized a four-year, $50 million contract that avoided a salary arbitration hearing.

The move was the latest by the high-spending Mets. who added pitcher Justin Verlander and David Robertson, catcher Omar Narváez and outfielder Tommy Pham, and also reached a $162 million, eight-year deal to keep outfielder Brandon Nimmo.

“It starts with ownership,” McNeil said at a news conference. “They want to put a winner on the field. It’s been pretty amazing to see what that’s looked like the last few years.”

He gets $6.25 million this year, $10.25 million in 2024 and $15.75 million in each of the following two years. The Mets have a $15.75 million option for 2027 with a $2 million buyout, a season that if exercised would make the agreement worth $63.75 million over five years.

He would get $100,000 for winning the World Series MVP, $50,000 for League Championship Series MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger or making the All-Star team. McNeil would receive a one-time $500,000 assignment bonus if traded, payable by the receiving team. He also gets a hotel suite on road trips.

A two-time All-Star, McNeil led the majors with a .326 average last season. The second baseman asked for a raise from $3 million to $7.75 million this year, while New York offered $6.25 million.

He was the only one of seven Mets eligible for arbitration who did not agree to terms on a deal and formally exchanged salary proposals with the team at the Jan. 13 deadline.

But the sides settled on a multiyear agreement weeks later, avoiding arguments before a three-person panel in St. Petersburg, Florida.

McNeil, who turns 31 in April, could have become a free agent following the 2024 season but agreed to push that back at least two years, possibly three.

An excellent contact hitter and a versatile defender, McNeil also made 44 starts in the outfield last season: 33 in left field and 11 in right. He had an .836 OPS at the plate with nine home runs, 39 doubles and 62 RBIs in 148 games for a Mets team that made its first playoff appearance in six years.

He won a Silver Slugger Award and finished 15th in NL MVP voting.

McNeil is a .307 career hitter in 4 1/2 big league seasons with 46 homers and an .827 OPS. He has struck out only 242 times in 2,039 plate appearances.

McNeil was drafted by the Mets in the 12th round out of Long Beach State in 2013.

MLB homer leader Pete Alonso to IL with bone bruise, sprain in wrist

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PITTSBURGH — The New York Mets will have to dig out of an early-season hole without star first baseman Pete Alonso.

The leading home run hitter in the majors will miss three-to-four weeks with a bone bruise and a sprain in his left wrist.

The Mets placed Alonso on the 10-day injured list Friday, retroactive to June 8. Alonso was hit in the wrist by a 96 mph fastball from Charlie Morton in the first inning of a 7-5 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

Alonso traveled to New York for testing on Thursday. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but the Mets will be missing one of the premier power hitters in the game as they try to work their way back into contention in the NL East.

“We got better news than it could have been,” New York manager Buck Showalter said. “So we take that as a positive. It could have been worse.”

New York had lost six straight heading into a three-game series at Pittsburgh that began Friday. Mark Canha started at first for the Mets in the opener. Mark Vientos could also be an option, though Showalter said the coaching staff may have to use its “imagination” in thinking of ways to get by without Alonso.

“I’m not going to say someone has to step up and all that stuff,” Showalter said. “You’ve just got to be who you are.”

Even with Alonso in the lineup, the Mets have struggled to score consistently. New York is 16th in the majors in runs scored.

The team also said Friday that reliever Edwin Uceta had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Uceta initially went on the IL in April with what the team called a sprained left ankle. He is expected to be out for at least an additional eight weeks.

New York recalled infielder Luis Guillorme and left-handed reliever Zach Muckenhirn from Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets sent catcher Tomás Nido to Triple-A and designated reliever Stephen Nogosek for assignment.

Nogosek is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 13 games this season.