The Astros are said to be considering a run at Pete Alonso as a surprise suitor in free agency. The all-time Mets home run champion has talked about how he’d love to stay a Met, but his free agency should go better this time around — not only because he’s ineligible to receive a qualifying offer, but also because he’s having a much better season this year than last.

Alonso, who’ll surely opt out of the $24 million remaining for 2026, should draw much more interest this time around considering his improved clutch and overall hitting (29 HR, 106 RBI, .265) in a year when he’s said to be “concentrating on contact.”

The Astros would be a surprise because they signed Christian Walker to a three-year, $60M deal last winter, but they continue to show their willingness to spend to win, with the trade for Carlos Correa the latest example. The Mets will try to bring back Alonso, who could draw interest from Texas, Boston, Seattle, the Yankees and others.

Don’t look now, but the favored Dodgers have their whole rotation back together, and it’s thriving. They won the 2024 World Series with a makeshift, three-man rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a surgically-repaired Walker Buehler and short-timer Jack Flaherty. But now Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and a rejuvenated Clayton Kershaw (5-0, 1.88 ERA in August) are all healthy and pitching well. Roki Sasaki is still rehabbing in the minors, but he’s back throwing 99 mph.