What if Cincinnati Reds could add Polar Bear to middle of order? 'That would be insane'

NEW YORK – Cincinnati Reds fans looking for something to dream on as they watch the New York Mets fighting this weekend for the playoff berth the Reds once thought they’d win should take a good look at the monster in the middle of the Mets order.

The one who looks more like a Polar Bear.

“That would be sick. I mean, that would be insane for our lineup,” Reds leadoff man Jonathan India said.

Not that India or anybody else who has followed the Reds’ budget-conscious roster moves over the years believes the Reds will spend what it takes to sign Mets free agent slugger Pete Alonso over the winter.

But that kind of mistake-crushing, veteran power threat is exactly the kind of hitter who might have made the difference in the Reds lineup this year when they had all their starting pitchers healthy and looking like a playoff-caliber group.

And for a team forced to start looking at next season with a month left in this one, well, just listen to one of the veteran voices of reason in that clubhouse — a former Rookie of the Year who’s now a young leadership presence.

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A player who has seen the difference between the kind of dynamic the Reds have struggled to overcome on the hitting side this year and the kind of dynamic that has put the Mets in position make an October run.

“I just know some things have to happen around here if they want to win,” India said. “You can’t just have young guys. You can’t build around young guys.”

Especially when so many of the ones in this core are coming off long-term injuries that raise even more questions going into next year, he said.

“You need experience to win,” India said.

In particular, for this athletic young group, they need a thumper who can slot into the middle of an order that is built up and down from there. The kind of threat that makes a pitcher nervous with men on base and squirm when it’s close late. The kind of threat that has a ripple effect on those around him because of that dynamic.

“It’s a must, I think,” said India, who admittedly might be biased toward his college teammate and pal Alonso. “You need a veteran pitcher and a veteran hitter. That’s what helps teams go. The younger guys will follow.”

The influence of veteran Frankie Montas on the Reds’ young rotation might have shown that much until he was traded to the Brewers at the trade deadline.

“I saw it in ’21 when I was here,” said India, a rookie, along with catcher Tyler Stephenson, during that 83-win season that looked like a possible playoff season until the Cardinals won 17 straight in September.

“There were a bunch of veterans, and when the veterans come together and you also have the young pieces, it goes well,” India said. “Like the Mets. Their catcher’s young. The (Mark) Vientos kid is having an unbelievable year; he’s young. They’ve got a ton of young guys on the team.”

And also a veteran MVP candidate at short in Francisco Lindor, a grizzled playoff veteran in DH J.D. Martinez, and a fearsome veteran slugger at first in Alonso.

“When you have that, that’s a key,” India said. “It always goes well.”

The Mets also have nine-game winning streak after beating the Reds Friday on Vientos’ walk-off home run in the 10th and a 4-0 victory Saturday.

“I do think we need to add a veteran hitter, someone who has been around the league a good amount of time and has had success,” he said.

Maybe there’s somebody out there who would fit who’s not named Pete Alonso.

But, then again, consider the fact that the Reds have enough resources to compete in free agency if they want for a right-handed slugger who would go a long way toward helping solve some of this year’s problems with lefty pitchers that arose again vs. the Mets’ Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana Friday and Saturday nights.

He’s also a guy whose .518 career slugging percentage would trail only Frank Robinson (.554) and Adam Dunn (.520) in franchise history.

His 53 homers as a rookie is one more than George Foster’s 1977 franchise record, and his 46 last year would tie Dunn for No. 5 on the single-season list.

If financial offers were similar, what kind of team might he prioritize in free agency?

“I haven’t really thought about it much because we’re in the thick of a playoff race,” said Alonso, who grew up in Tampa. “Obviously, I’ve been asked a lot about it. But I think other people are thinking about it more than I am.”

Fair enough.

At least one good friend thinks Alonso would be a fit, in the smaller market and with the Reds’ close-knit group in the clubhouse, if not in the cozy hitting confines of Great American Ball Park.

“He’d love it here,” India said. “He would love Cincinnati. I know he would, just because of the atmosphere, the calmer atmosphere. I know he doesn’t like the big limelight, the city stuff. I just think it’d fit him.

“But he’s grown to be a superstar in New York, too. He’s grown to love the light here, the big media, the big city.”

Alonso, who delivered a double that led to a two-run rally Friday and drove in the second run of the Mets’ four-run rally in the sixth Saturday, does seem to know a lot about the Reds — rattling off a half-dozen names and praising the “great pitching staff” and young talent.

“We’ll see what people do. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “I love being a Met. This is a great organization. It’s a really special place.”

“We’ll see what comes down the pipeline.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Fantasy baseball: What if Cincinnati Reds added Pete Alonso?