BALTIMORE — New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso accused Major League Baseball of manipulating the baseballs to harm the earning potential for star free agents and players eligible for arbitration.

Alonso’s comments came Wednesday before New York’s game at Baltimore. He was responding to a question about the crackdown on sticky substances used by pitchers.

“I think that the biggest concern is that Major League Baseball manipulates the baseballs year in and year out depending on the free agency class — or guys being in an advanced part of their arbitration,” Alonso said. “So I do think that’s a big issue — the ball being different every single year. ... Maybe if the league didn’t change the baseball, pitchers wouldn’t need to use as much sticky stuff.”

The league did not comment on Alonso’s charge.