What would it take to bring Pete Alonso to the Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are poised to be a heavily-mentioned organization coming up at the MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. All eyes will be peeled on Shohei Ohtani news as he tops the list of available free agents for the 2024 season. The Cubs are in on that chase and continue to kick the tires on other available free agents. Outside of the free agency market, the Cubs are also rumored to be heavily involved in the trade market for top-tier talent.

One of the names being dangled out in the open is New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. The Cubs are in dire need of depth at first base. If a first baseman does not come out of free agency for the North Siders, a blockbuster trade with the Mets could be the answer. The lingering question remains what would the return be for two guaranteed years of all-star caliber talent in Alonso?

Cubs: multiple young talents would be the cost for a Pete Alonso trade.

The first name that comes to mind to head back to New York would be budding superstar Christopher Morel. The electricity he brings to a bench as well as his commitment to the craft of his game is a huge chunk of value that would help match receiving Alonso. Morel is a fan favorite and would be a hard goodbye, but we’re used to those as a fan base. At least major league talent would be coming in return this time.

Morel would be piece one, and the remaining chunk you’d have to believe would be young arms. I think the price would depend on if you could (or want to) work out an extension with Alonso to be here long-term. If so, you may be willing to part ways with a combination of Jordan Hicks, Cade Horton, or Ben Brown. If there is no extension on the horizon, maybe it’d take one of those three and a top-prospect position player like Kevin Alcantara, Owen Cassie, or even Matt Shaw.

The bottom line, it would take a base of Christopher Morel and one young pitcher. The additional pieces would be determined by whether Alonso would extend or not, and it is not guaranteed we’d be able to know that at the time of a trade as the Mets would probably have to grant the Cubs permission to talk to Alonso and agent Scott Boras. Any combination of these outgoing players would be big names to give up, but you have to believe filling the void at first base for at least two seasons would be completely worth it.