Alex Bregman is preparing for a move to shortstop, should the Astros have a need, the third baseman told Michael Schwab on his podcast. Houston has not indicated a willingness to move Bregman, and in fact, GM James Click recently said that moving Bregman was not something they were considering. Still, it doesn’t hurt for Bregman to offer. We have seen a trend lately of third basemen moving up the defensive spectrum as players like Mike Moustakas and Travis Shaw have seen time at second and Eugenio Suarez tried his hand at shortstop. These moves were hardly universal success stories, however, so it’s likely Bregman remains at the hot corner when the 2022 season opens.
In other rumblings from around the American League…
- Like Bregman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was adamant last winter about his willingness to move up the defensive spectrum. Ultimately, Vladdy spent all of two innings at the hot corner in 2021. Recent rumors have again suggesting moving Vlad to third in order to accommodate a totally hypothetical Freddie Freeman signing, but that’s not something the Blue Jays have discussed with their young star, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. There would be other ways to accommodate a Freeman signing, but at least for now it seems their interest in Freeman was more due diligence than earnest sales pitch.
- The Orioles signed five pitchers to minor league deals, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Bryan Bautista, 17, Raynel Duran, 18, Wilton Rondon, 19, Darwin Caballero, 21, and Noelin Cuevas, 19, will start the 2022 season in the Orioles’ organization. The Orioles continue to be one of the most pitching-needy organizations in the game, so while adding a handful of minor league free agents hardly qualifies as a game-changer, it’s a positive data point nonetheless. These five were all international free agents who will join the lowest level of Baltimore’s system, notes Kubatko.
Bregman was a shortstop in the minors and has played it decently well enough at the major league level, and plays there in shifts. This isn’t like other players moving. He at least can play there.
He was literally drafted as a SS.
He was also drafted as a second baseman by the Red Sox in 2012
Fan69 – The year before, the Red Sox drafted a guy named Mookie as a 2B. What a stacked draft in 2011, arguably the best ever.
Also drafted Jarren Duran as a 2B. I’m starting to sense a pattern
And Pedroia was drafted as a SS … too funny.
To be fair, almost all MLB infielders were drafted as shortstops. Hell, Mike Moustakas and Ryan Braun were drafted as a shortstops.
I’m confident Bregman could be adequate at the position though
I bet the Astros weren’t thinking SS when they drafted him #2. I bet they were thinking 3B.
Bregman excelled as a short stop @ LSU. He won the Brooks Wallace award which goes to the best short stop in college baseball. He has range. Additionally, Yuli came up as a third basemen. Theoretically, the Astros could move Bregman to short & Yuli to third then sign a power hitting first baseman via free agency.
Eugenio Suarez played SS in the minors and even in the majors. He was moved back there later to accomodate someone and proceeded to destroy his career. It’s not that simple. Bregman’s one of the best 3B in the game. Don’t mess with it. If you don’t want to sign someone, play the kid at short and if it doesn’t work, acquire some veteran mid-season.
Suarez was struggling at the plate a year before they tried the switch.
deGrom was converted to P from SS in college
😛 Ah dreams. Move Bregman to short, Yuli to third and sign Freeman for 1st. LOL
That’s a nice dream !!
Mine is actually trading fir Matt Olson.
In order to be Worth it, Olson would need to agree to an extension – say 4 yrs $100 mil. $15/$25/$30/$30 buys out 2 FA years and likely gives him incentive since arb salary would be less.
Oakland gets Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, Taylor Jones, and Joe Perez.
Astros need to add the 4th player because they don’t have a top 50 prospect that they can include.
A’s do it because it gives them 2 young controllable starting pitchers and an immediate replacement at 1B plus a young powerhitting 1B/3B who could be ready by 2023.
Astros do it because they have a glut of young SP coming up so Urquidy and Javier are likely to be #6 and #7 in the rotation by 2023. And by adding Olson and extending him Jones and Perez are extra.
Astro rotation 2022: McCullers, Verlander, Valdez, Garcia, Odorrizi.
2023: McCullers, Valdez, Garcia, H.Brown, Whitley.
Move Bregman to shortstop, Yuli to 3rd base and sign Freeman for 1st base …
Bregman is a natural SS. He played it in college at LSU, was drafted as a SS, played it in the minors and switched to 3B because of Correa. He would do just fine at short if need be.
There’s no such thing as a “natural SS”. Tons of players start there then quickly age off the position. It’s not like when he was born the doc was like, Congratulations Mrs. Bergman, it’s a healthy shortstop!… many players that used to be shortstops can no longer play the position.
You’re either drafted as a pitcher, catcher, shortstop, or outfielder. Then you get moved around based on what you can/cannot do and what the team needs/has.
Agreed. Ryan Mountcastle was drafted as a “natural shortstop”. Now they can’t find a place on the Diamond for him except perhaps 1b. DH is definitely in this kid’s future.
Mountcastle is a capable, adequate first baseman. It will be many years until he is a full-time Dh. Dh is almost every batters future if they can hit well enough to last that long.
He gets hurt too much to play SS nowadays though.
He’s ranked #2 as 3rd baseman don’t move him where he is excelling. You can use Diaz this season if Pena isn’t ready. Next year Diaz will be a FA though. Diaz has played SS full time before.
He’s quite solid at short
Diaz doesn’t have a strong enough arm to hold down 3rd all year long. I really question what Click will do in free agency to fill SS? I am sure he is kicking the tires on Trevor Story. I’m sure they have probably offered his agent a 5 year deal also. I’m assume he and Correa will both command longer contracts. They might be willing to do an in division trade for Rendon if the Angels eat some of his contract. His health was sketchy this past year though. Who knows?
… leave Vlad at first.
Hard not to play the what-if game though. Even a slightly below average defensive 3B would massively increase his value.
Yeah, but he was the worst third baseman in the league which massively decreased his value. I’m just happy he’s a solid first baseman and doesn’t need to be a DH.
What if ……. Astros spend the money for Freeman. Move Yuli to his natural 3rd base position with Bregman moving to SS? Too many moved parts?
If they are hesitant to move Bregman to SS, I highly doubt they want to move 38 year old Yuli to a position he hasn’t played full time in a long time.
Bregman gets hurt too much at 3B as is. He can’t play SS and stay healthy, imho.
maybe, but the same could be said for Carlos Correa previous to 2021. I wouldn’t have figured a person with a bad back was best suited to play shortstop, but here we are a Gold/Platinum Glove later.
Now that would be interesting.
I’m jonesing for some real offseason baseball news. Man MLB is shooting itself and its real fans in the foot.
99.9% of baseball fans aren’t paying attention right now.
Yes they are focused instead on whether the Fins can win 6 straight. Most baseball fans follow other sports.
Not many people are focused on whether the Fins can keep their winning streak alive. They’ve beaten one good team in the last 5. I didn’t even know they were on a winning streak.
km19 – I agree, but they’re playing the Pats and Titans in the next few weeks so you can’t say they’ve got a soft schedule.
I did not even know they had won 6 straight.
I agree, but then they’re not the 0.01% like us who really love the game. They call them fair-weather fans. Lockout or no lockout; we’re here discussing every article, cutting down each other’s team, lol Baseball is in our blood and that’s just the way it is.
I guess you could say we are all fanatics.
Fever, not really fanatics. Seems with baseball you either love, literally love it, or it’s boring and you can’t stand it. That’s how it seems with everyone in my existence. I’ve loved baseball since I was 11 years old watching the 1986 World Series…Mets over Red Sox.
Yea, that’s how it works with the Grateful Dead, too
dsett – You know the word “fan” comes from “fanatic”, right? LOL
I know plenty of casual baseball fans, every sport has them.
Thanks for the reminder on the ’86 WS outcome ;O)
I’m nervous about this lockout. Other sports to me are peanuts compared to MLB
If next season is delayed, do what I do when there is no baseball. Pull out the DVD’s of the 2004 ALCS and World Series and watch them a few times, along with Fever Pitch.
If the players hadn’t agreed to a lousy deal last time, it wouldn’t be as dire as this lockout is. I will be really bummed and bored come spring with no baseball.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the owners drag out the negotiations to intentionally shorten the regular season, like they did last year.
I hope not. It wouldn’t serve their money-hungry purpose if they did. These spring training and regular season delays; regardless of which side is causing them, will only turn more people away from baseball.
Fanatics – Owners care only about the postseason.
The regular season games and ST games are meaningless to them. March/April are the lowest revenue months because of NBA, NHL, college basketball, and rainy/cold/snowy conditions in many MLB cities.
Why would they do that? They’d probably lose money, and certainly wouldn’t save any by doing that.
Vlad Jr is a first baseman. Period. He can’t play third. Enough is enough.
ee – You’ve forgotten Vladdy was a lot heavier when he played 3B. Now that he’s lighter, he would probably perform better there.
Hypothetically speaking, what happens if Vlad doesn’t play well at third, and now you’ve got Freeman for 6 years?
If it’s a left handed bat that the jays covet why not go after Schwarber. Could probably get him on a 3 year deal for the same money on an annual basis. And have him DH with the occasional day at first base or corner outfield.
Astros should sign Trevor Story and keep Bregman at 3B. Story should be able to be had on a short term deal and Jeremy Pena should be ready soon
What makes you think Story will be available on a short term deal? Something out there that I have missed reading?
That has been the concensus since the offseason began
Point me toward an article or tweet by legitimate sports writers please. I have missed it somehow. ♂️
The Astros look like they have several IFs in their high minors they could audition at SS instead of moving Bergman or acquiring one. I think the Astros management knows that.
Bregman has played 130 games as a MLB SS. He’s been about league average defensively.
Houston knows he’ll get paid more if he puts up similar numbers, from a premium position. The astros became frugal once Lunhow was booted.
I agree with all of that except frugal. I’m not sure where that comes from? If you mean smarter (thrifty) with what resources they have then yes. In no way are the Astros being cheap though.
The Os pitching future doesn’t look so bad. John Means is quality. Tyler Wells should me moved to starter. Greyson Rodriguez will be up soon. It’s actually coming along better than advertised.
The IF future is another story. Adly Rushman is only one catcher. Their greatest need is in the IF but their upper MiLB system is loaded with offensive minded IF defensive hacks who can’t hit.
Stacked minors with pitching, outfield, and Catcher. Zero middle infield with above average hit tool
Is not necessarily a problem as every winter there seems to be more middle Infielders than jobs anyway. A contending team is going to have to spend somewhere and if 2B/SS is where, thats not a bad thing
I think you’re forgetting about Gunnar, Westburg, Norby, Vavra, Greiner, and Ortiz, just to name a few MIF prospects
A few excellent SP prospects but certainly not `stacked.`
Does it matter ,Who are you passing in the next 3 years to get out of the basement?
The Astros put a high priority on defense to support their pitchers. The top 2 defensive positions are C and SS. Bergman is a very good ML 3B. Don’t see them moving him to SS full-time if they don’t resign Correa.
The Astros also put a priority on promoting youngsters from their farm system – which keeps the payroll in line and makes them a sustainable contender. If they need a stop gap until one of their young SS’s is ready I believe they’ll look into a trade. The article the other day on the DBacks mentioned Nick Ahmed potentially being available. I could see the Astros going after him. Kevin Newman of the Pirates might also be a good fit.
Peña is considered to be the organizations best remaining defensive SS. It wouldn’t surprise me if they do a mix of Diaz, Peña and possibly Leon next year.
I have read things like this also… it sounded like they still like Leon in the OF. Unless something changes I bet that you see all 3 get plenty of reps at SS in spring training. I bet DeGoti also gets reps also he actually got called up for 6 games.
The report didn’t address the main question, which is of course whether the Astros are looking at moving Bregman, or at moving Bregman. Of course if the Astros are looking at a team or teams that are open to moving Bregman, then the Astros can probably move Bregman.
THIRD BASE!
At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Here here.
Analytically, how did Bregman score while he actually played SS in the Majors?
Well there are some third baseman out there. Kris Bryant, Kyle Seager, and the Boston Red Sox third baseman wants to play with the Houston Astros he and Jose Altuve r from the same country. They need to sign a Free Agent r make a trade for a third baseman.
Devers told you himself he wants to play for the Astros?
Also, Devers is from the Dominican Republic. Altuve is from Venezuela. Not fellow countrymen
The Astros are not going to out Bregman at third base – guy is coming off a season where he was hampered by quad and hamstring issues. They aren’t going to risk that again – they need his bat to return to some semblance of Bregman circa 2017-2018. Would not be surprised to see them deal a starting pitcher for an interim SS like Paul DeJong/Cardinals and groom Pena over the next few seasons.
Sorry – should have read “Astros are not going to put Bregman at shortstop”
I don’t think Bregs hurt himself playing the position as much as he wasn’t in shape and stretched out like normal. Wife life happened. I bet he comes back this year in a little better shape. Still got wife life going on though.. Don’t blame him.
Bregman plays a lot of SS in the shift, it’s not a stretch to move him there temporarily if they needed to. However, I think the Astros would like to sign T. Story. He’s from the Dallas area and likely would be interested in playing for the Astros. If a deal with Story doesn’t get worked out they will roll with Bregman and Diaz covering 3B/SS until Pena gets called up or they sign a journeyman for depth.
I have no doubt that Bregman could play a solid short stop, maybe even all star level, but I don’t see the Astros making that move. His injury history the past few years would put a stop to that and they really need his bat.
If Vladdy works hard this offseason, I cam see him showing up with a Stanton like physique.
Trade kim from San diego,He’s cheap in cost of prospects.
As much as I hate Vladdy at third. When you consider adding Freeman to this lineup I think I’m willing to sacrifice whatever defensive issues come with that. Also he wouldn’t need to be at third everyday. He could move around from third, first and dh. Imagine a top 5 lineup of:
1)Springer cf
2)Bichette ss
3)Guerrero 3b/dh
4)Freeman 1B
5)Hernandez rf
This is the best top five in baseball with Freeman. I don’t think there’s anyone even close to this. Let’s go for it! Pay the man what it takes and we’ll destroy pitching staffs for the next 5 years