BOSTON — If free agent third baseman Alex Bregman wants a lengthy contract this offseason, it doesn’t sound like he’ll get it from the Boston Red Sox. While the two sides have been connected this winter, the Red Sox have only discussed shorter term deals with Bregman, according to a new report.
The Red Sox remain interested in Bregman — but only on their terms, it would seem.
Boston remains engaged in Bregman, but is not offering the veteran infielder anything more than four years, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. Bregman has been seeking a deal for five or six years, and reportedly has received five-year offers from at least three teams, according to Ari Alexander of KPRC2 in Houston.
That would seemingly take Boston out of the running for Bregman, who reportedly rejected a six-year, $156 million deal to return to the Houston Astros earlier this offseason. But the door remains open for Bregman to re-up with the Astros, according to Alexander, and Houston traded set-up man Ryan Pressly to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday to clear some more payroll off the books.
That could eventually lead to a deal that keeps Bregman in Houston for the rest of his career. The 31-year-old is coming off a slightly down 2024 season where he slashed .260/.315/.453 with 26 home runs, but he did win his first career Gold Glove for his work at third base.
Alex Bregman’s possible fit with Red Sox
While it looks unlikely that Bregman will sign with Boston, the move would have made sense on a lot of levels.
Bregman signing with the Red Sox would reunite him with Alex Cora, who was a bench coach on the Astros when the team won a World Series in 2017. Signing Bregman would not just give Boston a veteran voice in the clubhouse, and a much-needed right-handed bat for the lineup.
The Red Sox have an extremely lefty-heavy lineup at the moment, but Bregman would help break that up. He owns a .848 OPS over his career, slashing .272/.366/.483 while averaging 28 homers, 39 doubles, 97 RBI, and 101 runs scored over 162 games over his nine MLB seasons. He’s been named to two American League All-Star teams, in 2018 and 2019, and has finished in the Top 10 of MVP voting twice in his career.
With the Red Sox set at third base with Rafael Devers, Bregman was reportedly open to moving to second base for Boston. The Red Sox don’t have a set second baseman heading into the 2025 season, with Vaughn Grissom and top prospect Kristian Campbell in-house options for the position.
Having those younger options — especially Campbell — is likely why the Red Sox don’t want to dish out a long-term deal to Bregman. But the longer he waits to find a new team this offseason, the more the potential for him to accept a shorter-term contract grows. If that happens, playing the waiting game could ultimately pay off for Boston.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
