DALLAS -- Within the next few days, Juan Soto will officially become a Met. It¡¯s been a celebratory 24 hours for team officials, who agreed to terms Sunday night with Soto.

But president of baseball operations David Stearns remains all business. Upon flying to Dallas for the Winter Meetings, he said, he did not stop to celebrate. Stearns put in his work on Sunday night, logged a couple hours of sleep and was grinding again by early Monday morning.

From the outside looking in, of course, Stearns¡¯ most intriguing next piece of business is whether to re-sign Pete Alonso.

After agreeing to terms on a $765 million contract with Soto, the Mets don¡¯t appear content to slow down. They still need starting pitching. They still need relievers. And they require another starting corner infielder to pair with Mark Vientos, whom the Mets envision sticking at his natural position of third base.

That would seemingly create an opening at first, where the Mets have no obvious in-house solution outside of Minor League signing Joey Meneses, who profiles more as a bench bat. Alonso isn¡¯t the only answer available on the open market. But he¡¯s certainly the most familiar one, having played the first six years of his career in Flushing.

¡°[It would] mean a lot, especially a guy like Pete,¡± manager Carlos Mendoza said Monday, when asked about the possibility of the Mets re-signing Alonso. ¡°Everybody knows what he brings to the table. You know the power, quality at-bats. But his ability to post day in and day out, as a manager, that¡¯s a really good feeling.¡±

In addition to appearing in every game this year, becoming the second Mets player to accomplish that feat in a 162-game season, Alonso hit 34 homers, drove home 88 runs, produced a .788 OPS and played a reasonably solid first base. He is likely to garner the largest contract of any first baseman available.

More than that, Alonso has long been a fan favorite in Queens, dating to his 53-homer rookie campaign in 2019. If that reputation flagged a bit during a midsummer slump this past season, Alonso restored much of it with his season-saving, three-run homer in Wild Card Game 3 against the Brewers. If he returns, he¡¯ll be near-certain to set the Mets¡¯ all-time home run record as soon as next season

¡°We¡¯d love to bring Pete back,¡± Stearns said. ¡°Pete¡¯s been a great Met. He had some enormous hits for us, and we¡¯ll see where that goes.¡±

¡°This is a homegrown kid,¡± Mendoza added, ¡°and it was a privilege for me to be able to write his name on the lineup.¡±

Asked if there¡¯s still room in the budget to add Alonso, presumably on a nine-figure mega-contract, Stearns replied: ¡°I think our ownership has consistently demonstrated that there¡¯s going to be resources when we need them. There is the ability for us to make baseball moves when we think that they¡¯re there to improve the team, and we¡¯re going to continue to pursue a wide variety of areas to continue to improve our team.¡±

The only question is whether Stearns and owner Steve Cohen consider Alonso the best person to fill that description. Also on the market is Christian Walker, a defensive standout who has produced a higher OPS than Alonso the last two seasons, a better hard-hit rate, a superior strikeout rate, and who would probably come cheaper. Part of the reason is because he¡¯s less of a name brand. But mostly, it¡¯s because Walker is nearly four years older than Alonso. He¡¯ll be 34 on Opening Day.

The Mets could also explore alternative options or pursue a trade -- always one of Stearns¡¯ preferred methods to improve. Time will tell. Monday, Stearns was unwilling to commit to any course of action at the position.

¡°We¡¯ve got a long way before we have to make the decision as to who our starting first baseman is going to be,¡± Stearns said. ¡°I¡¯m confident that by Opening Day, we¡¯ll have a starting first baseman.¡±