Mets Legend Darryl Strawberry Says Pete Alonso Will “Regret” Leaving Queens For Baltimore

When Darryl Strawberry talks about Queens, it’s not nostalgia. It’s lived experience. It’s October nights, Shea Stadium roars, and knowing what it means to wear orange and blue when the city is watching. So when the Mets legend weighed in on Pete Alonso leaving for Baltimore, it didn’t come off as bitterness. It sounded like a man who’s been there before.

Strawberry didn’t hide his surprise.

“I was really shocked that Pete would leave New York for Baltimore,” Strawberry said Monday at spring training. “Pete could have broken all the records and could have been on top of every offensive category for this organization, and then sometimes when you don’t see that and realize how important that is, one day he is going to wake up just like I did and regret you didn’t stick where you are at.”

That’s not just commentary. That’s reflection.

Strawberry left the Mets after the 1990 season, signing with the Dodgers in free agency. He knows what it feels like to walk away from a place where you were building something permanent. And in Pete Alonso’s case, the foundation was already poured. The Polar Bear didn’t just chase down Strawberry’s franchise home run record. He passed it, eclipsing 252 bombs and cementing himself as one of the most productive sluggers in team history.

Now he’s headed to Baltimore on a five-year, $155 million deal with the Orioles.

Strawberry believes the turning point came when Alonso opted out after last season.

“The biggest mistake I saw was after they lost in Miami, he opted out,” Strawberry said. “I think if he just waited and said, ‘OK, I’ll stay at that, but give me a four-year deal,’ something like that, they could have worked it out.”

Alonso would have made $24 million this year had he stayed. Instead, once he tested the market, the Mets never formally circled back with an offer. Sources indicated the club expected him to explore and return. Baltimore’s long-term commitment ended that possibility.

When asked whether the Mets should have pushed harder, Strawberry kept it balanced.

“I think it’s a combination,” Strawberry said. “I think they both could have fought harder in that situation.”

That’s fair. Because this wasn’t just about money. This was about legacy.

“He worked his way up to become the player that he was,” Strawberry said. “He deserved all the credit for that and what he accomplished. I just don’t leave New York to go to Baltimore. Don’t get me wrong; I am not getting on Baltimore. But I am saying, this is New York, come on. Baltimore is a good place, but it’s not New York.”

And Mets fans understand exactly what he means. There’s something different about being “the guy” in Queens. The pressure is heavier. The spotlight is brighter. The boos sting harder. But when it clicks? There’s nothing like it.

Strawberry, in camp as a guest instructor, also weighed in on the current roster; a retooled lineup built by president of baseball operations David Stearns after last season’s collapse, when the Mets finished one win short of the postseason.

The front office pivoted. Bo Bichette. Jorge Polanco. Marcus Semien. Meanwhile, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil were moved, signaling a philosophical shift.

“What they have done is gotten more contact hitters, more guys that can put the ball in play, and there is nothing wrong with that because you have to be able to win games that you need to win,” Strawberry said. “Last year was a year I was heartbroken for them because all you had to do was win one game to get into the playoffs. If you can’t win one game, something is wrong. Who are you going to blame? You can’t blame the front office for that. It’s the players that have got to get it done. Hopefully, this season will be different for them, and the fans will embrace what team they are trying to build.”

That’s the heart of it. Accountability.

Team owner Steve Cohen has also stated the Mets won’t appoint a captain during his tenure, a stance Strawberry doesn’t oppose.

“I think people overanalyze that more than anything,” Strawberry said. “They have got [Francisco] Lindor, [Juan] Soto, Marcus, Bo, guys that are veterans. These guys know how to play. They have played a lot of games — a lot of big games.”

Leadership doesn’t need a “C” stitched on the chest. It needs results.

As for Strawberry, now 63, he continues to focus on his health following a second heart attack in less than two years.

“I have got so much more work to do,” said Strawberry, who travels the country as part of his Christian ministry.

And maybe that’s the most important perspective of all.

Because when Darryl Strawberry talks about regret, about staying where you’re planted, about finishing what you started. He’s not talking as a former All-Star. He’s talking as a man who understands how quickly chapters close.

For Mets fans, the question lingers: Will Pete Alonso look back years from now and wonder what might have been had he stayed in Queens?

Strawberry already knows that answer.