The Chicago Cubs were first linked to a trade for New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso several months ago, but it has been relatively quiet on that front of late. The Cubs have been quiet in general, as they haven’t spent a single penny in free agency so far. While it doesn’t seem as if an Alonso trade will happen, Jon Heyman of the New York Post is still hearing rumblings of Cubs interest. The way Heyman phrases it, though, it seems that interest will come in the form of a pursuit in free agency next season.

“Keep hearing the Cubs will be after Alonso when he’s free,” Heyman reports.

Pete Alonso’s Mets situation

Pete Alonso has spent his entire MLB career with the Mets, spanning five seasons. He led the majors with 53 home runs as a rookie en route to winning Rookie of the Year and has consistently been one of the most fearsome sluggers in the game. While his slash line plummeted to .217/.318/.504 as New York disappointed in 2023, he still bashed 46 home runs and drove in 118 runs. That came after 40 home runs and an MLB-best 131 RBI in 2022.

With the Mets slumping last season and Alonso set to make about $21 million in his final year of arbitration in 2024 before potentially hitting free agency, it’s only natural that trade rumors have popped up. Again, it doesn’t seem as if New York is all that interested in moving Alonso this offseason and could still sign him to an extension, but perhaps they’d think about it if the right offer came around.

Cubs’ Pete Alonso interest

Last October, it was reported that the Cubs had interest in a Pete Alonso trade and that he had interest in coming to Chicago. Follow-up reports suggested the Cubs would “aggressively” pursue Alonso and that they were one of the likeliest destinations if there was a trade.

While more recent reports hinted at a trade not happening this offseason, that doesn’t mean Chicago isn’t still interested in acquiring Alonso at some point. This latest Heyman reports lends credence to that, even if a trade doesn’t happen before the 2024 season. The Scott Boras factor might play a role here as well as this slow offseason chugs along.