When talking about the Mets' future with Alonso, Cohen referenced the team's negotiations with Nimmo, who entered free agency last fall after seven seasons with the Mets but ended up rejoining the team on an eight-year, $162 million deal.

The Mets' 'heart' not being in the trade could be due to them seeing Alonso as a piece the team can build around, alongside Brandon Nimmo, as they try to get back on track toward the playoffs in 2024. The 'extremely high' asking price likely means they were asking for highly-ranked prospects, apparently more than other teams were willing to give, coming the other way. That means it's fair to say that the New York club wasn't afraid of retaining part of Alonso's promised $14.5 million salary. It was an expensive sale from the most expensive team in MLB history. In other deadline deals, including the trades that sent Scherzer to the Texas Rangers and Verlander to the Houston Astros, the Mets sent over $70 million to their trade partners in order cover parts of the outgoing pitchers' salaries.

Homescapes play on cost