New York Mets owner Steve Cohen sharply criticized the negotiations with free agent first baseman Pete Alonso in a public event with fans Saturday.

Steve Cohen can afford to pay Pete Alonso whatever he wants. The man ranked No. 162 on Bloomberg's Billionaires index has already committed to paying Juan Soto

The Mets and Alonso continued to engage in contract talks into the new year, but the two sides were said to be some ways apart financially. The Mets have since seemingly pivoted, signing outfielder Jesse Winker and left-handed reliever A.J. Minter .

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen acknowledged Saturday that the team could be moving toward a future without Pete Alonso at first base. Cohen acknowledged

Just before Mets owner Steve Cohen answered a question about where things stand with Alonso, a homegrown star and free agent first baseman, during a panel discussion, a spirited crowd began chanting, “Let’s Sign Pete! Let’s sign Pete! Let’s sign Pete!”

In Cohen's 'brutally honest" assessment, he expressed his displeasure with the way discussions have gone with Alonso's camp.

The New York Mets held their first winter event for fans in five years at Citi Field on Saturday, and there was one notable absence. Pete Alonso wasn't in attendance because, for the first time since the 2016 draft,

This was a recurring theme throughout SNY broadcaster Gary Cohen’s conversation with the Mets’ leadership. Later, after Stearns repeated how much the team loves Alonso, their homegrown, free agent first baseman, Stearns expressed that they “also feel really good about the young players that are coming through (the) system.”

Because unlike Soto, who will be wearing a Mets uniform in two weeks when the players start rolling into Port St. Lucie for spring training, there seems to be an increasing chance Alonso -- the popular, homegrown Polar Bear -- is going to be spending the rest of his career elsewhere.

The Mets held their first winter event for fans in five years at Citi Field, and Pete Alonso was a notable absence.

The contract negotiations between Pete Alonso and the New York Mets appear to have hit an additional rough patch. At the organization's "Amazin' Day,"