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

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.”

Free agent first baseman Pete Alonso remains unsigned less than a week from February, and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen got "brutally honest" during an event Saturday about winter negotiations with the team's longtime slugger.