Steve Cohen talks Pete Alonso's future, Juan Soto's slow start

The Mets carried a 19-9 record into play on Monday, giving them the best mark in MLB.

Speaking on The New York Post's The Show podcast before Monday's tilt against the Nationals in Washington, D.C., owner Steve Cohen touched on a host of topics -- including Pete Alonso's hot start and uncertain future, and the uneven beginning to Juan Soto's Mets tenure.

On Pete Alonso's future

After returning to the Mets on a two-year deal with an opt-out after 2025, the obvious outcome is Alonso opting out after the season if he has a year that's up to his standards.

So far, he's blown the doors off, with a .333/.451/.646 triple slash to go along with six home runs, while leading the National League in doubles (11), OPS (1.097), and OPS+ (212).

That means barring something strange, Alonso will be a free agent again in about six months.

"We know he can opt out at the end of the year, and we'll deal with it then," Cohen said. "I just dealt with this two months ago," the owner noted with a smirk.

Cohen added: "Let it kind of play itself out. Obviously, Pete's gonna explore his market like he should -- and I'm supportive of that. And we'll see where it goes."

Before Alonso re-signed this past offseason, much was made of the fact that the market for older, offensive-minded first basemen had cratered over the last decade or so. And the belief was that David Stearns' philosophy didn't mesh with investing long term in those types of players.

But it will be interesting to see how Alonso's market develops after the season in New York and elsewhere if he is able to maintain a high on-base percentage and low strikeout rate.

On Juan Soto's slow start

Soto has showed signs lately of breaking out.

He reached base four times on Sunday and had a pair of hits on Friday, but his overall numbers in his first month as a Met haven't been great.

Soto is hitting .248/.374/.396 with a .770 OPS.

Most glaring so far is the lack of power, with Soto having gone deep just three times and in a home run drought that dates back to April 15.

But like most people, Cohen isn't worried.

"If you ask him, he'd probably say it's not going as what he hoped," Cohen said. "That's not what the back of his baseball card would say. But saying that, there's a lot of subtle things that he does that I really think matters. The way that he works the count, makes pitchers throw extra pitches, really matters.

"Then he gets on base, and Pete can drive him in. And so Pete is seeing better pitches. It's very subtle how that works, and you can't just look at it as -- in a very narrow sense.

"And saying that, I'm not worried about Juan. He's singularly focused on baseball. He's a pure hitter. Let's have this discussion at the end of the year."