Peter Alonso's agents, Alonso clap back at lack of big-league promotion

by Tim Reilly August 29, 2018 0 Comments

Mets fans received more upsetting news on Tuesday. No, it wasn't that Jacob deGrom allowed one earned run against the Cubbies after Jay Bruce failed to reach a ground ball while playing first base. We’ve unfortunately grown accustomed to that sort of news…

One-third of the three-headed GM, John Ricco, informed the media that top prospect Peter Alonso will not receive a September call-up. His reasoning was that team brass didn’t see enough opportunity for him to receive ample playing time, as they are focused on rotating Dominic Smith, Wilmer Flores and Bruce around at first base for the remainder of the season. We’re all SO excited to have another three-headed monster on our hands.

James Wagner of the NY Times reached out to Alonso’s agents for comment after the news broke.

Peter Alonso’s agents Adam Karon and Tripper Johnson had this to say about Alonso, who has hit 33 homers and driven in 111 this season, not getting a major league call-up: pic.twitter.com/dTEVJZzebj
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) August 28, 2018

I mean, what would you expect a player’s agents to say? Of course, they’re on the side of their player. Of course, they want to see him up in the majors. Of course, they want his big league tenure clock to start ASAP. Of course, they aren’t going to side with the team’s decision. Of course, they have the absolute best interest of their client in mind at all times. Of course, this was their response.

However, WFAN’s Chris Carlin was not having any of it…

WOW — this is REMARKABLY DUMB from Peter Alonso’s agents. DUMB DUMB DUMB #Mets https://t.co/QGioMW5PO0
— Chris Carlin (@ChrisCarlin) August 28, 2018

Look, I like Chris Carlin. I thought he was great during his tenure with SNY and the do think CMB gets a bad wrap (just shut off Bart's mic during baseball talk). I always thought of him as a guy you might be watching the game with at the bar that happens to be on TV and now the radio…but he overreacted on this one.

I get it, agents come with a stigma of being sleazy guys that are always out for the bottom line and causing trouble with front offices. That’s their job, though. That’s why player’s sign away a nice chunk of their salary, so those guys can get them paid as much as humanly possible. These guys didn’t interject themselves like Scott Boras probably would have into the story, they kept it short and sweet in expressing their displeasure with the team’s decision in what I thought was an appropriate manner. Nothing over the top to have anyone preparing for their next radio rant.

Alonso himself came to the defense of his representation.

Why is that dumb? They’re sticking up for me. That’s what they are there for
— Peter Alonso (@PeterAlonso20) August 29, 2018

I like that he chimed in, but didn’t take the bait of exchanging tweets all night with people at the same time. That’s a hole you don’t want to fall in as a professional athlete. Alonso gave us just enough to let us know he’s paying attention to the conversations happening about him.

Carlin came back with a few more tweets to clarify his intentions.

Peter, it's dumb to take shots at the #Mets publicly, and overblow your "historical" achievements when you haven't set foot in the big leagues yet. Handle it privately with management. I have an agent. If he did that, he'd be fired. It doesn't make you look good. I wish you luck. https://t.co/0guWpByr8U
— Chris Carlin (@ChrisCarlin) August 29, 2018

So you're all clear: I hope @PeterAlonso20 does great. Not about him, its about his representation. I can't remember seeing an agent ever do this before, especially regarding a September callup. It's bad business. If they have a problem, call John Ricco. Don't put them on blast.
— Chris Carlin (@ChrisCarlin) August 29, 2018

You can make your own decision about Carlin's take in this debate from here.

It’s clear this promotion is a move the fan base very much wants to see. It’s a move Alonso’s agents want to see. It’s a move Alonso himself wants to see. Unfortunately, team brass does not…yet.

Maybe we’ll hear from Alonso himself on the situation. I know we’re all intrigued to hear from the man who is likely to be named Minor League Player of the Year within the organization. Will he soon be a guest on Orange and Blue Thing?