TODAY: The Red Sox officially announced Bregman’s deal. To create roster space, Patrick Sandoval was moved to the 60-day injured list. Sandoval underwent an internal brace procedure on his left UCL last June, so he was already expected to be out of action until the second half of the 2025 season. Speier also provided some added details on the contract’s structure, writing that $20MM will be deferred in each of the three seasons. Bregman will begin receiving these deferred payments in 10 years’ time.
Feb. 13: The deferred money in the contract knocks the net present value of Bregman’s three-year deal into the $90MM range, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports. Per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Chris Cotillo of MassLive, the AAV will be calculated as $31.7MM for CBT purposes. Speier adds that there’s a $5MM signing bonus, followed by a $35MM salary in 2025, then $40MM salaries in the final two seasons.
Feb. 12: The Red Sox are reportedly in agreement with Alex Bregman on a three-year, $120MM deal. The Boras Corporation client receives massive $40MM salaries in each season, though an unreported amount of that money is deferred. Bregman can opt out after each of the first two seasons. The team has yet to officially announce the signing.
Boston gets the best remaining free agent by offering a massive annual sum. Bregman reportedly had a standing six-year offer valued at $156MM from the Astros for most of the offseason. The Tigers reportedly put forth a six-year, $171.5MM proposal, while the Cubs offered a $120MM guarantee over a four-year term. As of last month, Bregman remained committed to a long-term deal. The Sox’s willingness to offer one of the biggest AAVs in league history changed the calculus.
It marks the end of an illustrious tenure in Houston. The second overall pick in the 2015 draft, Bregman was in the majors within a year of coming out of LSU. He immediately locked down third base. He hit .284/.352/.475 over his first full big league campaign, helping the Astros to their first World Series title in 2017. He was one of the top handful of players in baseball over the next two seasons. Bregman secured consecutive top five finishes in AL MVP balloting while combining for a .291/.409/.561 slash with more walks than strikeouts between 2018-19.
Bregman, 31 in March, successively hit 31 and 41 home runs over that stretch. His power production has ticked down since the ’19 campaign, which was the most homer-heavy season in league history. Bregman has hit between 23 and 26 homers in each of the past three seasons. He’d continued to post excellent on-base numbers up through 2023, though his OBP dropped last year as his walks plummeted.
The two-time All-Star hit .260/.315/.453 across 634 trips to the plate in 2024. He had by far his lowest on-base percentage since his half-season as a rookie nearly a decade ago. That was almost entirely because of a drop in free passes. Bregman walked in 6.9% of his plate appearances, nearly halving his typical 12-13% rates. He remained incredibly difficult to punch out (13.6% strikeout rate) and narrowly established a new career high with a 40.1% hard contact percentage.
Bregman started the season very slowly. He hit .216/.283/.294 with only one home run through the end of April. While his power started to rebound in May, he reached base at a meager .276 clip that month. He entered June with a .219/.280/.372 slash line that was beginning to raise questions about his earning power. He put those to rest with a fantastic finish to the season. Bregman hit .284/.337/.500 with 20 doubles and 19 home runs across his final 398 plate appearances. While the walks remained down, he managed much better batted ball results in the second half.
Over eight-plus seasons with the Astros, Bregman hit .272/.366/.483 with 191 home runs. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each valued his Houston tenure around 40 wins above replacement. He won a Silver Slugger and was MVP runner-up in 2019 and won his first career Gold Glove last season. He has been an instrumental piece of Houston’s sustained postseason success and World Series wins in 2017 and ’23. His swing is perfectly suited for the short left field at Houston’s home park. Bregman certainly hasn’t been a product of the Crawford Boxes, though. He has been essentially the same hitter on the road (.275/.362/.489) and at home (.270/.369/.476).
Bregman will have a similar home setup with the Green Monster at Fenway. He’ll reunite with Sox manager Alex Cora, who was Houston’s bench coach in 2017. While the Sox’s front office had trepidation about adding another long-term infield commitment alongside Rafael Devers and Trevor Story, they were willing to pay handsomely in the short term.
Boston had roughly $210MM in luxury tax commitments going into this evening, as calculated by RosterResource. A $40MM average annual value for Bregman would push that close to $250MM. The actual AAV won’t be quite so high, as the deferrals will drop the net present value to an extent. It’s likely that the Sox will still end up beyond the $241MM luxury tax threshold. They didn’t pay the CBT last season, so they’d only owe a 20% tax on spending between $241MM and $261MM. Even a true $40MM AAV for Bregman would only come with a $1.8MM tax hit for the Sox.
It’s the culmination of an exciting offseason for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his staff. The Sox opened the winter looking to add upside in their rotation. They eschewed long-term pitching investments, instead acquiring Garrett Crochet for four prospects while bringing in Walker Buehler on a one-year, $21.05MM deal. Boston signed Patrick Sandoval to a two-year contract midway through his rehab from Tommy John surgery and made a pair of one-year pickups in the bullpen (Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson).
Adding a right-handed bat was the one offseason goal that the Sox had not accomplished. While an outfielder may have been a cleaner roster fit, Bregman’s willingness to move off his longtime position makes this workable. The Sox intend to play him at second base, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. That made him a better fit than Nolan Arenado, who has been connected to the Sox in trade rumors for much of the winter.
Devers has been vocal about preferring to stick at third base. Bregman is a superior defender at the hot corner, but he should be athletic enough to move to the keystone for at least one season. He’d likely have spent most of his career in the middle infield had he not broken in with a team that had a Jose Altuve/Carlos Correa pairing.
That blocks the path to playing time for top prospect Kristian Campbell in the short term. The 22-year-old had a monster minor league season (.330/.439/.558 between three levels) to put himself in consideration for the second base job. Campbell seems likelier to begin the year in Triple-A Worcester now. He has played both middle infield positions and all three outfield spots in the minors, though, so the Sox should be able to find playing time for him somewhere as injuries arise throughout the year.
Campbell’s presence is probably a big reason the Red Sox kept this to a short-term commitment. Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe reports that Boston wasn’t interested in going past three guaranteed years. The tradeoff involves one of the largest per-year commitments in MLB history. The pre-deferral $40MM AAV is tied for the sixth-largest ever. It’s the second-biggest of this winter behind Juan Soto’s $51MM AAV and ties the Aaron Judge deal for third in history among position players (trailing Shohei Ohtani and Soto).
Bregman was the final unsigned free agent who had declined a qualifying offer. Boston surrenders their second-round pick (54th overall) in the upcoming draft, as well as $500K from their international signing bonus pool in 2026. They’re getting a compensatory pick about 20 spots later with Nick Pivetta signing with San Diego, so the draft capital comes out relatively close to a wash. As luxury tax payors, the Astros get the lowest compensation pick for Bregman’s departure — a selection after the fourth round, which lands around 137th overall.
Chandler Rome of The Athletic first reported that Bregman was signing with the Red Sox on a three-year, $120MM deal. Jon Heyman of The New York Post had the presence of deferrals. Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2 had the even salary structure. Image courtesy of Imagn.
Wow
Yankees Red Sox, just like old times. O’s knocked down?
I don’t like that many opt outs
Bregman is a good player. But he’s not opting out of $40m per year unless this is front loaded.
Agree, one-sided
Hahaha deferrals guess everyone does it
This sounds similar to what Boras and alonso proposed to Mets. High AAV. 3 years. Opt outs after each year. Mets held their ground. Bergman probably had more than 1 team interested.
Fenway
Better than six years, if he opts out after one year than it means he did pretty well
Red Sox hope he opts out after one year. That means he was productive and they can avoid the heavy payments.
For Bregman, he goes to a park that will inflate his production.
They haven’t posted the deferral amount yet but I imagine it will bring the aav down to about $30m. He’s said he’s not willing to take a pay cut
Fenway- yes you do, and you hope he’ll put up a great season and then exercise that opt out.
To get the AAV down to $30 million, he would have to defer around $35-36 million per year of the $40 million and defer it for 10 years.
Web, if that’s true my idea was way off
That’s an expensive aging second baseman.
I would like to see all players take deferral so when they live their lavish lifestyle they will have money coming when they stop playing.
But your comment,yes every team does it or should do it.It is a tool that should be used.The Pirates could push money to the future when they get an owner that spends.
I realize the cost is only money but I’d rather if had Arenado for three years, especially in 25. I want Devers off third and if Bregman plays second, the hole at third remains.
That’s not true… MLB uses a very conservative expected rate of return vs. most other methods/investments. And just anyway that isn’t right… just look at Ohtani’s deal $700M calculated as $460M for CBT purposes doesn’t even remotely defer 7/8’s of the annual amount each season so $35+ of 40 clearly isn’t close even if you just eyeball it instead of calculating it out.
@mlb top
If he doesn’t opt out, they stuck at $40Mm for 3 years.
That’s an expensive aging third baseman playing out of position!
Ohyeah, its pretty much impossible. He would have to defer 80% of his salary for 9-10 years to bring the AAV down 25%.
Ohtani deferred 97% of his salary for 10 years to bring the AAV down 34.3%.
Web, he would have to defer $32 million per year for 10 years. A little high but you were on the right track.
Jeff, Ohtani deferred 97% of his salary per year for 10 years to gain the Dodgers a 34.3% lower AAV. To get Bregman’s AAV down to $30 million or 25% lower the Sox would have to defer $32 million per season for 10 years.
I love what Bregman did as a player, but he’s such an egomaniac that he will probably opt out even if he has another down season.
Heavily deferred. Didn’t say how much yet.
It is a tool that should be eliminated. Not a fan. Agree it’s good for players not disciplined enough to manage their money, which is many.
Fenway isn’t going to inflate his production any more than Houston did with the Crawford boxes in LF.
He already played in a pony-league park, don’t see Fenway as much of a change.
I hear Rendon may be available, and I bet he’d even sign an extension for 40 per…
websoulsurfer
To get the AAV down to $30 million, he would have to defer around $35-36 million per year of the $40 million and defer it for 10 years.
=========================
That’s why one of the reason this hatred of deferrals is so overrated. It takes an awful lot of deferrals to make a serious dent in the AAV.
Fenway – If he has a decent season he’s gone, that’s what RSN is hoping for.
He’s not opting out of 40 million
dam – I’m guessing closer to $35M but who knows.
Either way, it’s a huge fail for Boras/Bregman after projections of a $182M contract.
Cubs – He’s been declining offensively the past few years, that’s the important thing.
And if he does play 2B, learning the new position won’t exactly help his offense. He’s played only two full games in his entire MLB career.
So the Red Sox needed a better contact hitter than the strikeout machines from last season, and someone who can mash against LHP…. and they signed a RHB with brutal reverse splits the past few years whose OBP has cratered.
Makes perfect sense.
Generalization and stereotypes sold here!
The AAV is down to ~$30M per year due to deferrals.
Maybe someone can explain what is so severely declining in bregman to me…
His average, doubles, home runs, all within career normal. His walk rate went down, BUT, his strikeouts did NOT jump correspondingly, instead remaining around career norms.
Basically the guy put the ball in play more often. And the results from that were within career normal outcomes it appears.
So either he started swinging at worse pitches but was successful in outcome with them, or, opposing pitching wasn’t trying to pitch around him and attacked him in the zone more, leading to that same outcome.
But what about that is decline?
He just won a GG for defense, so, I’m guessing nobody will say his glove is declining.
RBI are sort of a team stat because you can’t knock home who isn’t on base ahead of you, and, you don’t control the line-up. If he had fewer 2B, 3B, HR I’d say he wasn’t driving them home, but all that and his batting average were within career norms….
And he’s 30 years old right now, 31 this year. So it’s not like he’s 36
Last night I bet the AAV would be closer to 30MM than 40. Now Buster Onley says it will be near 30MM.
GASoxFan
Maybe someone can explain what is so severely declining in bregman to me…
============================
“Declining” is an ill-defined adjective. He’s declining in a way that every player declines past about age 28, but that’s also why he isn’t getting a 9-year contract.
His K/W declined, but his CSW%, EV, max EV, all improved. And for me, his OPS after 5/12 was .845. That’s right in line with his career OPS.
I’d expect a less-than-precipitous decline.
GaSox – Correct, nobody is saying he’s declined on defense …. although learning a new position is no guarantee of him being equally strong at 2B.
Where has he declined?
OBP from 2017-2019 was .391 combined and he was never below .352 but last year it was .315 which was his lowest since his rookie year.
Supposedly he changed his approach last season, becoming more aggressive due to key injuries with other players. But that additional aggressiveness didn’t pay off in terms of BA and SLG.
Bottom line, even though he was healthy last year he had just a .768 OPS which is a career low. Nobody expect him to perform like he did in 2019 or even 2018, but at least an .825 OPS should be the floor for this guy.
just – May I ask why you are referring to it as a $40M AAV deal when you already knew there would be a significant amount of deferred money bringing down the AAV and total contract value?
I actually READ the article when it was posted last night, it specifically mentioned deferrals.
And Bregman wouldn’t have pushed for an opt-out after just one year if he wasn’t expecting to have a decent season and opt out.
I mean do YOU ask for things that you don’t plan to use?
He going to look even tinier with the Green Monster in the background.
But again fever, that doesn’t ring of decline to me?
You cite the k/w ratio, BUT, that didn’t change because his strikeouts went up. It changed because he didn’t draw walks. The batting average and slugging, as you note, were within range.
It’s just that instead of a bunch of walks, he put the ball in play a bunch more times, with career normal results. And a walk is a guaranteed base, while having a .260 outcome on a hit means you’re on base in roughly 1/4 of what used to be walks. Thus the opb suffers.
That’s why stats like OPS can give an occasionally distorted view to me. They have some value of course. But you’re talking about a guy whose only change was attacking the ball more with career normal results. But metrics didn’t like it and would rather he didn’t try, earning a free pass at a higher clip.
I’m curious how the greater protection he should see in the BOS linep will change things compared to last year.
Good to hear from you Joe, don’t recall seeing you on her as much, although, maybe it’s been me absent as well?
Anyways, any baseball player sees changes in their early 30s, but, the narrative from some is particularly strong as if he’s about to fall off some sort of offensive cliff.
I don’t like k/w as a stat because you need to dig deeper and see is it walks going down, strikeouts going up, a combination? All have different causes and the plan to change that outcome will differ. Here, strikeouts weren’t up, which makes the rest more suspect, at least to me.
I’m just hoping he doesn’t suffer from ‘trying too hard’ to line up a good opt out opportunity free of the qo and see things take a downturn for that reason.
GaSox – I think it all depends on what’s your range.
Most are saying decline since 2019, not since 2023 or 2022.
The thing is, most players have their peak performance at Age 27 …. but Bregman’s numbers started cratering at Age 26 … the early decline is a concern.
And looking at all 34 third basemen with at least 200 innings last year, Bregman is 13th in OPS and 10th in WRC+ and 12th in ISO ….. he’s just not an elite player, not even close. But for one year at $30M I’m fine with it.
And even if he goes back to having more plate discipline, the reverse splits need to reverse if the Sox are going to have that LHP masher that they’ve craved to replace O’Neill.
Yes, Arenado is considered toast after two years of decline yet Bregman signs a much larger contract. Interesting.
200 innings for a positional player is kind of a small sample size
Word is he went into a lab in the offseason and purposely reworked his swing to hit for more power, knowing he’d sacrifice some walks. That he didn’t have a major surge in K rate is a testament to his contact ability.
It did rise slightly, but that’s not the decline – at least a small bump in K rate when you’re purposely trying to hit the ball harder and further – shouldn’t be held against him as decline.
The fact that he was swinging more aggressively though, and his hard hit rate fell below 30% for the first time in his career (his career rate was 35.3% going into the year). He also had the highest soft hit rate of his career, and the lowest pull rate since his 2016 rookie year. Those are all weird data points for someone that says they sold out for power. Not just one of those things player say either, the numbers back it up, he hit the most HR since 2019, one every 22.35 AB. He had averaged a HR every 25.31 AB since 2019, His max exit velocity neared a career high – he hit a ball over 109 MPH this year, he’s only done that once before his whole career.
Also weird is that he didn’t even hit his first HR of the season until his 26th game! So he hit the other 25 in the other 119 games he played. IDK, but logically you could argue he was getting used to his new swing, and the stats I gave above look artificially low bc it took him a month to figure out how to execute.
But there is more weirdness. He made contact with pitches in the zone at the highest rate of his career. Or tied, with 2018, for the highest rate. He made contact with pitches outside of the zone at the highest rate of his career by a good amount (75.2% last year, 69% in his career before that). Again, weird for someone who’s swinging for the fences.
And hitting balls isn’t good for your average, or your batted ball profile – another thing that would explain why the hard hit rate and soft hit rate went up. He used to miss 6% of those balls that he softly rolled over last year… He also swung at the first pitch a LOT more often than he ever did, so that helps explain the BB rate, especially when viewed with all this other stuff.
Now, he has lost a step on defense. But nothing not expected at his age. He’s still above average at 3B. He’s not the defensive superstar he was, and he’s not going to be an above average SS like he was when Correa went down, but he can still pick it at 3B, and it actually improved in 2024. His defense improved. He was in the 76th percentile of Outs Above Average in 2023 – he used to live in the 95th percentile. He brought that back up to 91st percentile last year.
And that’s where I see decline – in 2022 and 2023. A lot of that rebounded in 2024. E.g. his average swing speed.. His average swing speed had dropped to 70.2 in 2023. He brought it back up to 71.4 in 2024 – MLB average swing speed was 71.5 MPH – that’s substantial for a 30 year old. At least, that doesn’t happen by accident at 30.
His baserunning has tanked. He was never fast, but he was smart – +6 baserunning runs in 2017/2018.. -5 in 2023/2024. But everyone knows speed peaks early.
So you have a guy that was in decline, a lot of it covered up by his home park, but noticeable nonetheless, and turned it around in his age 30 season. If I’m a GM, I don’t trust that in the long term. I also want a short term, incentive laden contract to keep that carrot in front of him.
There is real decline here. But outside of the first month the year – he had never had a stretch where he hit so poorly as the first 25 games in 2024 – he seemingly fixed it all. Turned it around. The fact that his first month was so bad, and he still ended up with the year end numbers he did, means that he REALLY fixed it. Close to peak performance.
So I don’t think he found a cliff. But we can’t act like age isn’t a factor for someone that doesn’t have easy power or speed to spare. He can’t hold it off forever, and the cracks in the armor are starting to show. Young Bregman could swing out of his shoes and also wait to decide if he wanted to swing a split second longer. Last year he had to make the decision a little early – which almost every player in their 30s does have to start to cheat. I mean any decline he’s shown has been completely normal stuff that 99.9 of players experience at the same age.
That’s why 99.9% of contracts for guys 30+ end poorly. As long as he plays how they expect him though, on that contract, Boston isn’t risking his decline phase. IMO, they’re more likely getting the last star-level ball he has to give out of him.
I still hate Bregman though.
I could see him opting out before the final year. He’ll be 32 at that point and could still get a solid long term deal. That’s probably worth it more than that final year at $40 mil even if the long term deal is lower AAV.
Of course I can also see him playing through and hoping that final year he is also productive to get a long term deal at age 33 as well. But I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion he sticks around all 3 years. There’s plenty of good reasons to opt out, especially after year 2, if he’s been productive.
Anywhere but Houston or Boston he has warning track power.
Lucky – It’s primarily for income tax savings, no reason to dislike it.
31 is aging??
I don’t think you understand how deferred payments work
He’s a winner and improves any team he’s on. Don’t be surprised if he has a bounce back season in Fenway.
I think, before the season ends, Bregman will be back at 3b and Devers at first.
He did $32 million per season until 2034.
Kevin, what do you think happened?
@Pete……That happens if there’s a trade for Yoshida or Casas….They’d love to bring Campbell up as well and let him play second. I think that might be in the cards near the trade deadline unless Casas is just smashing it and he’s shown himself capable. Yoshida is definitely on borrowed time….
He’s 30 and at the top of his game.
They had a horrible offseason. They’re really going to need their kids to step up even more.
Perfect. Now Cease, Suarez, and Cronenworth for Casas, Crawford, and Yoshida. Full throttle Sox!
Dear God please no.
Ron Darling….
That trade sounds horrible for SD.
SD would lose a great starter, their starting 2b, and a great closer.
And get a 1b we don’t need, an above average corner OFer, we don’t need, and the SP who led the AL in losses last year and is OK. If SD made that trade, I guess Arraez is the starting 2b, which is not a great idea, and SD has Merril, Tatis, Heyward, Joe, and Yoshida in the OF.
Please THINK!!!
It’s not that bad for the Padres. They’d get rid of the Cronenworth contract. Casas is a talented young hitter with power. Crawford is a decent rotation piece. And nobody judges pitchers off of their win/loss records nowadays. That’s just silly.
As a Sox fan, Croneworth is not coming to Boston. That said Crawford would do better in SD. Yoshida though has to be a DH as he reminds me of the kid chasing the ball as the runner rounds the bases. Petco is too big for him to play the OF.
Nope, this makes Campbell trade bait.
if they did that you could move tatis back to infield to relieve the of logjam.
I think so too
Absolutely Oreos have not improved much at all they overpaid for Tyler O’Neal which is there only big signing and Morton is almost 50 lol Oreos third plac at best
Yup
Horace — More like Os and Sox.
In that order 😉
O’s knocked up. While NY BOS lose draft picks and take on salary Balt gains draft picks and has financial room that they don’t seem like they will use but that’s on them. Could really reload the farm system next draft.
The Red Sox lose a draft pick for Bregman, but gain one for Pivetta.
Baltimore loves to win the stuff that doesn’t get them any closer to a championship. Loading up the draft & having lousy pitching could have them 3rd in the division struggling to get a Wild Card.
They will have a young core with even more tent on the way with bradfield and mayo knocking. My guess is they will hang around until the deadline and pick up a few arms. They have a good enough lineup to make a push every year for the next seven.
They also have a good enough young core to be the team to beat for the next decade if they invested in the roster the way they promised they would when they started their rebuild. Territorial rights have been resolved too.
IMO, BAL is the greatest shame in baseball today, though the Rays, A’s, and Pirates keep them company at the top (bottom?) of that list.. That shouldn’t be their company though, they play in a much larger market and have a much better team and had 3 years with the best minor league system in baseball to prepare. Instead we’re looking at Rutschman’s being a FA in 2028, Gunnar in 2029, and the Orioles are not trading valuable assets to improve their team while those assets are losing value, e.g. Kjerstad. And when they are spending in FA, they’re not spending on their needs, they’re spending in areas that are redundant and not improving their projected outlook, like blocking Kjerstad with O’Neil.
It’s Looney Tunes, but that FO is SHARP. SHARP SHARP, top 3 in baseball, easily. You gotta assume it’s coming from ownership. Or Elias REALLLLLY sold out and turned his back on his original mission statement, which if he has a huge bonus tied to payroll surplus or something, I guess is possible, but I don’t see it. Odd too bc he had so much juice and decision making ability when he came over, it really looked like he’d be able to spend commensurate with their market and talent level.
Dodgerbleu
IMO, BAL is the greatest shame in baseball today, though the Rays, A’s, and Pirates keep them company at the top (bottom?)
===========================
I would add Cincy and Seattle, and drop the As and Rays. The former two have a good young core, spend nothing on payroll, and have a market I think Seattle could draw another 300k+ fans in the drop of the hat, and maybe Cincy 200k+. And Cincy has 2 players locked in for 2026 for a total of $24M.
And I am far from one of those fans that think owners should support their team out of their own pocket, but when you have a good core, it is time to invest.
Fisher is one of the worst. He invested this season only because if he didn’t, he would lose his revenue sharing check. That welfare check requires him to spend at least some of the money he gets.
It would be the greatest thing ever if the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Phillies win their division. One of O’s or Jays win the first WC and Boston and both New York teams miss the playoffs.
Orioles too cheap to compete. Old owner, new owner, doesn’t matter.
Jim Carter — The Orioles won 101 games and the division in 2023. Cheap team and all. What’s different from that 101 win team and 2025? Those players got more experience…and won’t equal their rookie production??
Simply by aging another year, the army of youngsters in Baltimore got better. The army of youth has more recruits coming too.
Money ≠ ability.
I know the feeling. The Cubs last owner and current owner are combined 260 years old. Granted the Chicago Tribune didn’t buy the Cubs until 1981. They were founded in 1847. Joe Ricketts the current Cubs useless owner is 83.
Jammer- It’s amazing how you keep wanting to inject Joe Ricketts into the Cubs ownership situation. LOL It kinda reeks of Tin Foil Hat conspiracy stuff but OK, Whatever. Not sure what Joe did to earn your eternal wrath but have at it.
Because Joe is the owner. Tom, Steve-Dave, Chad and Karen won’t inherit the team until their father passes away. Tom is only the chairman of the board for the Cubs. He still has to go through his father for money to allow and most of the time not spent.
He earned my eternal wrath because even if he’s not 100% involved and sitting in his $5k chair he’s still the one who cried that the cubs were broke. Not sure if it was him or Tom’s idea to want to break even every year. Which is pathetic.
Well once again I have no idea what the actual Cubs flow chart of ownership looks like but one thing I do know is I’ve never heard Joe Ricketts quoted in any publication of having made any decision whatsoever involving current Cubs decisions. So either he’s the Harpo Marx of silent partners or he’s dead and they’re keeping him in Cryo stasis. There’s nothing wrong with making money or being a Tax team but if that’s what they want to be they have the WRONG guy running it. Because he has no end vision, he just pretends to care about the Farm System but refuses to let things play out because a shiny thing comes along and he has to throw money at it. The Cubs could re sign Tucker, And be a Tax team, But not with the useless salaries they have on the payroll now and in the future. But Have a good one with the conspiracy theories. It’s not a grand conspiracy. it’s a bad POBO. Sorry Hoyer followers. not a believer.
Joe Ricketts is the one who bought the cubs in 2009 for 900 million dollars. He’s the founder of Ameritrade TD. That’s how he got rich. He’s the owner. He just let’s Tom run the team. Who is a carbon copy of his father. Which is very unfortunate because he’s cheap like Joe.
I think unless the Cubs make at least the LCS. Discount Jed will be fired. Useless Carter will be out the door with him. He’s more suited to be the Marlins POBO. He would have a field day with 30 minor league deals in one off season.
Dominant starting pitching and bullpen is mandatory to get to and advance in playoffs. Orioles have great core of position players, but are mediocre in pitching department.
Very good player. Lovedhim at LSU, despised him pretty much since. Net average value be damn, I bet Jung is better in practically every category next year. Who cares about the rangers? Who cares about the red Sox. Going all overpay striving for third in the east!
I think this just makes it tighter. I’d like the Red Sox to jump the O’s if they had one or two more outfield bats. I can see 4 teams winning more than 80 games though.
Sorry all 3 of them winning 80+
I can see all 5 winning 80. I have Yankees winning but within margin of error. Boston made really going for it moves. Baltimore just plugged holes with lesser players.
Baltimore didn’t replace Santander, I like T.O but he’s going to play 120 games and hit 25 homers….25 is not 40
Thank God it wasn’t the Cubs.
I second that. Sheesh…he also just burned the bridge with nearly every MLB fan, including those in New England.
Good luck Boston. You just lost that deal.
Bregman in Boston is a win regardless. 3 years is the perfect commitment & he will pepper that wall.
Amen Uncle
Idiots didn’t learn their lesson with Story.
@worthington
As a Yanks fan, this was an amazingly good deal for both parties. Bregman is a pull happy righty contact hitter with an above average glove and a good history of being healthy. His career OPS at Fenway is something ridiculous, like +1.200. Story is a horribly bad comparison. Away from Coors his OPS was .200 points lower. .944 vs .724. Anyone with access to baseball reference should’ve known better, although I guess DJ Lemehiu may have been an example of a guy that hit better away from Coors. But DJ was a better contact hitter who found power hitting to opposite field in YS.
Yeah but Bregman is going to post early JD Martinez numbers like he did the first few years in Fenway. If he has 2 great years then he’ll opt out and I’m sure the Sox would be comfortable extending him for another 3/$90 getting him what he wanted, which was a 5 to 6 year deal at or above $200.
Knicks, good post but I don’t agree in that if he opts out after two strong years, Henry is likely to be happy and if they show they’re as good as advertised, use that money on Anthony, Campbell or someone else much younger.
Bregman is far from Story. Story was a stupid signing based on everything known about him at the time. Bone spurs isn’t anywhere close to Story’s issues.
$40 million AAV. $40 million AAV. $40 million AAV.
Where are all the people that were saying $26 million AAV was too much?
AND he gets an opt out after a single season. He goes in to Fenway which is a park built for his game, gets paid $40 million, and if he has another season as good or better goes right back into the FA market.
Bregman just hit a HUGE HR.
@Pads
Agreed. I should’ve read your post so I didn’t have to bother writing mine.
But he’s a year older and everyone will be looking at the splits. Unless he hits on the road similarly, who is offering something worth him giving up the last two years? Maybe Henry adds one more year but I doubt it,
If you call signing for 40 million less than Houston’s offer & 50 million less than Detroit’s offer a win, okay…He will 34 & if he’s not doing well, he will be lucky to sign a 2 yr 20 to 30 million contract. If he invests his money wisely, getting that high AAV could net him 10 to 15 more million over the next 3-6 years
Dave, you are missing the point. Bregman just got a huge raise. He absolutely crushes in Fenway. He needs a 3/36 after this deal to match Houston’s offer and with guys like Walker getting 3/60, that is a gimme.
Really wish the writers would stop making it look like the luxury tax hit is only due to the contracts that put them over the line. No it’s a cumulative number. Everyone that gets a salary shares in the tax hit. Fans think writers know what they are talking about and spread the bad math. Bregman might have been the final nail in the coffin for going over the line but even the 5th OF and players on league minimum helped get them there. So, they all share in the tax hit.
Sure but the cup only overflows when you fill it beyond the rim
I’m glad the Cubs didn’t get him. Even 120 mill guaranteed over 4 years was too much. If they have any designs on resigning Tucker (and I think they do), they’re gonna need that money..
The roster construction of some of these teams is baffling. Paying guys at premium positions top flight money to move off their natural position? It’s too big of risk. Don’t make the move if you can’t convince devers to move off 3b.
For all these teams to use analytics and have any these rosters with moving parts so you can mix and match, defensively their teams always seem to be weaken. I always defend how these Ivy League guys build their teams with analytics because they’re smarter than me just seems like you’d be better off having a guy who can play all OF positions, and a guy who can play all infield positions, rather than 3,4 regulars who play all over but nowhere above average.
These gms ain’t smarter than me. If they were they would have Bart Hill on their team last year. Some aren’t even smart period. They signed obvious awful contracts from day one. Going to ivy league school impresses you but to me it’s a red flag and proves my superiority vs them.
Moving from 3rd to 2nd is easier than 2nd to 3rd. You play deeper in the infield and you aren’t rifling it to 1st most the time. I think Story and Bregman should spend ST working on their double play chemistry. That’s his biggest hurdle really….
Cool
That makes me want to throw up. I can’t believe that piece of crap is who they finally decide to spend money on
Meh. I didn’t like him, but of all the Astros cheaters he’s the lesser of the evils. I’m sure we’ll grow to like him. Cora on the other hand…
Not Altuve, the guy who didn’t actually cheat?
yes because Altuve had a horrible tattoo and not a buzzer under his jersey
Why would literally every player on that 2017 team spend time admitting to being involved in the scandal, meanwhile defending Altuve and TONY KEMP (of all people) if they’re not telling the truth?
Look, I dislike Altuve as much as the next guy–I’m a Mariners fan and he’s screwed us consistently for 10 years–but this conspiracy theory is just goofy at this point.
Altuve got the MVP because the people in front of and behind him cheated, whether he did or not. If he publicly says that Judge should have gotten the MVP and he sends him the trophy and the extra money, then I’ll respect him.
Point taken, but still, how is that worse than actually cheating? I have much more respect for Altuve, the guy who said he didn’t want to take part in it, than the guys who actually cheated and/or tried to convince us it was no big deal (Bregman, Springer, Reddick, Verlander).
I’m not saying you have to respect or like Altuve (I don’t like him, but I do respect him), but I don’t understand how Bregman is the lesser of evils when he was one of the most egregious perpetrators.
We don’t know if Altuve told the truth. They could have been protecting his MVP and his HOF candidacy. We don’t know.
I’m not comparing him to the other cheaters, or Bregman to the other cheaters. Altuve was and is a leader on the team. It’s disappointing that he wasn’t able to get them to stop.
Beltran was the ringleader and the more vocal leader. Two guys against 23 guys doesn’t seem fair. And I’m not sure why they would protect Altuve’s legacy but not Bregman’s, Springer’s, or Beltran’s (who seemingly will get into the Hall, regardless).
And my comment was in response to the comment above that stated Bregman is the lesser of the evils, so that’s my point in defending Altuve here. I’m not suggesting Altuve should be immune to criticism.
Points taken, but Beltran was a newbie to the team and wasn’t even any good. It’s a pretty weak team that follows an over-the-hill cheater.
If Beltran gets into the hall. He should hold the door for Pete Rose. Roger Clemons and all the others excluded for cheating
I understand that viewpoint and agree that the whole thing was BS, but Beltran had the respect of 30 teams around the league. He may have been (for some reason) the most respected player in the game at that point. The guy was hired as a manager like two seconds after he retired.
I can see why a fairly young team followed his lead when a guy like Verlander was essentially looking up to him even.
There’s no conspiracy theory lol.
The Astros admitted to changing their method from banging trash can’s and theraguns in the middle of 2018. They have not disclosed what the new method of informing players was.
The commissioner stated that the Astros also used clapping, whistling, and yelling to indicate pitches.
But every single AB from 2017 has been listened to, reviewed, and logged. signstealingscandal.com/
Yet none of the 8800 ABs could clapping, whistling, or yelling be heard. But 1100 of them the trash can was heard.
The Astros ADMITTED to cheating the ENTIRE year. I’m sorry you can’t do math, but it’s obvious that in 2017, there was another method being used, and it wasn’t something that could be audibly identified. We know the Astros WERE using electronics that they weren’t allowed to.
And we know that Altuve grabbed his shirt when he crossing home and that’s not a reaction anyone would have in that situation. “Oh no, my tattoo” is the only conspiracy theory here.
That and the Astros claiming they stopped in 2018 because knowing what pitch was coming was no longer effective. Anyone that has every played baseball at any level knows unequivocally that knowing what pitch is coming, as opposed to not knowing what pitching is coming, is always going to be effective and helpful for the batter.
Anyone that would say something as foolish and ignorant as you just did needs to get off the MSM teet and learn how to think for themselves again. Or just think again. BC to call that a conspiracy theory is just willfully ignoring all the facts of the case. Altuve was protected because he was the Astros clubhouse leader, a lifer who signed with them when he was 16, and he was already an Astros legend and one of their best players in their history in 2017. As a youngster in that clubhouse – and everyone had less tenure than him at that point – you don’t snitch on Mr. Astro, the face of the franchise. Everyone knows that, Scooby.
BULL, account!
Oh please!
We’ll never know all the details.
But we do know Jake Marisnick was also somehow heavily involved. He only had 259 PA in 2017 but somehow had the most tips, or the most trash can bangs, or whatever you want to call it, on the whole team.
He didn’t get as much media time because, well, he’s Jake Marisnick, but there is something there where he needs to be mentioned when discussing the worst offenders. If anything else, he was the most frequent offender, and that alone based on his playing time, is super suspect.
So to sum all of that up you have no idea whatsoever, you are completely speculating.
@bhambrave Do you really think the MVP was decided on runs and RBI? Maybe 20-30 years ago, but I doubt that was the deciding factor when Altuve won.
He’s the one that thoroughly denied any wrong doing denim had a half-ace’d apology about.
If I’m remembering correctly, there’s even footage of Altuve openly berating the trash can man for doing it during his AB.
He still knew about it and didn’t tell anyone. Guilty by association. The entire franchise fr the owner right down to the the ball boys knew about.
You guys are really still hung up on this Astros cheating thing? Let it go, man. The rest of the world has moved on already.
Yankees were caught cheating for the same season that the Astros were. If you are removing cheaters from the MVP voting that season, then Andrelton Simmons should have won.
Bregman was in his first full season in the majors and got better after 2017.
Beltran brought the cheating method to Houston with him from the Yankees where they had been using it since 2015. The Astros were not using it before he and Cora put it in place.
You are crack Dodger boy. The trash cans were used from “2 months into the 2017 season” through the end of the seaason. That is it.
From the Commissioner’s Report
Approximately two months into the 2017 season, a group of players, including Carlos Beltrán, discussed that the team could improve on decoding opposing teams’ signs and communicating the signs to the batter. Cora arranged for a video room technician to install a monitor displaying the center field camera feed immediately outside of the Astros’
dugout. (The center field camera was primarily used for player development purposes and was allowed under MLB rules at the time when used for that purpose.)
They were not the only ones cheating that year.
“In August 2017, the Boston Red Sox were caught transmitting sign information from their replay review room to individuals in the dugout wearing smart watches. The incident received significant media attention, and I issued a press release on September 15,2017 announcing the fine of the Red Sox (and a fine of the New York Yankees for improperly using the replay review room phone)”
So why did the Astros get a much bigger penalty if other teams were also caught cheating?
“Notwithstanding the publicity surrounding the Red Sox incident, and the September 15th memorandum that I sent to all Clubs, the Astros continued to both utilize the replay
review room and the monitor located next to the dugout to decode signs for the remainder of the regular season and throughout the Postseason.” (They go on to clarify that it was during HOME games)
How about 2018 and the buzzer BS?
“The investigation uncovered no evidence that Astros
players utilized the banging scheme in 2018. However, the Astros’ replay review room staff continued, at least for part of the 2018 season, to decode signs using the live center
field camera feed, and to transmit the signs to the dugout through in-person communication. At some point during April of the 2018 season, the Astros stopped using the replay
review room to decode signs because the players no longer believed it was effective.”
But the BUZZERS!!!
In response, Major League Baseball said Thursday it “explored wearable devices during the investigation (of the Astros) but found no evidence to substantiate it.”
An MLB official said the inquiry into wearable devices included the 2019 season.
You are willfully ignoring the facts.
Altuve wasn’t even the current leader of the clubhouse, Bregman was until just now. Altuve was certainly not the leader of the 2017 Astros. Carlos Beltran was, he was signed specifically because Hinch told Luhnow to get “some adults in the room” of that young team, and he and none other than the bench coach himself orchestrated the scheme. Even veteran leader Brian McCann confronted them and couldn’t get them to stop. The manager did nothing. If the GM knew, he did nothing. But people expect Altuve, five and a half feet tall, to do what, beat people up until they stop doing it? Good grief. Despite all that and everyone doing it and the pressure and Altuve being a small, quiet guy and a young player, he still refused to use the system, and even told others to stop the banging when he was at the plate. Yet he’s the one guy that gets the hate because of the widely debunked buzzer conspiracy.
Beltran was 40 years old and a legend to south american players, especially fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Correa. He was specifically brought in for veteran leadership. As soon as he was signed, he took key members of the team, most of them ranging from 20-25 years old, out for dinner to establish himself as the leader and start guiding them. Acting like he wasn’t the leader of the team, not to mention the scandal itself, just because it was his first year on the team is ludicrous.
The facts we know are:
1 – The scandal news of a sign stealing scheme broke in Nov., 2019
2 – The Astros story is they started in 2H of 2016 and ended at some point in 2018 because it was no longer effective,
3 – Part of the scheme was the instillation of a video camera in the center field seats used to observe the opposing catchers hand signals.
4 – Part of the scheme was a player or staffer watching the live feed behind the dugout and relaying the info into the dugout.
3 – The last leg of this scheme was the dugout notifying the batter, the most well known method banging on a trash can with a bat. No bangs = fastball, 1 bang = offspeed, 2 bangs = other offspeed.
4 – At some point in 2017 they started using another method besides the trash can and theragun
5 – The MLB announced that they investigated and found the Astros illegally used a camera system to steal signs throughout the 2017 regular season, 2017 postseason, and into the 2018 season, matching the time frame given by the Astros. Both were vague re: an end, just saying into 2018.
6 – Specific details of the investigation were never shared with the public and when asked directly about the other methods specifically used, the commissioner named clapping, whistling, and yelling.
7 – Audio review of every single Astros plate appearance – over 8800 of them – did not reveal any instances where clapping, whistling, or yelling can be heard. It did reveal 1100 at bats where banging on trash cans can be heard.
The scandal came out after the 2019 season. We know MLB is lying or covering something in two ways.. A – they’re not disclosing all the details of the investigation, such as what other methods were used and when exactly the cheating stopped. And B., they have lied to help cover up by giving the public methods that should be easily verifiable, but verification proved that those methods were not used as part of the scheme.
There is no reason to believe that the cheating didn’t stop until after the 2019 season. Occam’s Razor would say that it did, that’s when we found out, we were told the Astros stopped of their own accord because knowing the pitches didn’t help, we were told they used methods they didn’t use, and we were only given basic information and despite being a very easy-to-prove fact, no details or facts to support anything they said about switching away from trash cans and when they stopped has been provided. Only details that prove they are lying in some way, not disclosing pertinent facts about both claims.
Logic says that it went on through 2019. Everything points to it.
Alex Bregman just so happened to have a .286/.384/.527 slash from 2016 through 2019, his age 23 – 25 seasons, good for a wRC+ 146, which is 46% better than league average.
Since,, he has had a .261/.350/.445 slash, good for a wRC+ 124, 24% better than league average.
In 2020 and 2021, his age 26 and 27 season, typically considered the prime of a career, he had a .261/.353/.431 slash, good for a wRC+ of 116, 16% better than league average.
It sure seems odd that Alex Bregman peaked before his 26th birthday, and immediately went from being 46% better than league average to 16% better.
It seems curious that he had a .241 ISO and 99 HR and 140 doubles in 1905 AB through 2019, in 2238 PA, but a .184 ISO and 92 HR and 125 doubles in 2252 AB since.
Curious that his only 30 HR and 40 HR seasons came in 2018 and 2019, and 26 HR is the most he’s hit since – this year – averaging less than 25 HR per 660 PA.
Curious that he was hitting a HR every 15.94 AB in 2018 and 2019 at 24 and 25, and then immediately dropped and averaged a HR every 25.32 AB in 2020 – 2023, his age 26 through 29 seasons.
Especially since power, most of all, is what develops for players in their mid 20’s. But apparently Alex peaked before 25.
Alex Bregman has been a completely different hitter since 2020. He was a monster before. He’s never been close to being considered a monster since.
But I’m sure you’re right, nothing to see here, just dole out $200 million to this guy and don’t ask any questions.
No, I am willfully asking questions that aren’t addressed and pointing out conflicting facts.
Every single AB in 2017.
The data is available for all to see, unlike the magical data the MLB used.
You should maybe try it before licking more MLB boot.
signstealingscandal.com/
Oh totes, makes sense that the guy who had announced he was retiring in 2017, and was playing his first and only year for the Astros in 2017, and had a terrible year in 2017, worth -1.2 was the unquestioned clubhouse leader. And definitely not a fall-guy, seeing as how he hadn’t been playing in over 2 years when the news came out.
And the incumbent all-star, lifelong Astro and in his 11th year in the organization, the only player in history to make the all star team as a National League Astro and American League Astro, who also happened to win the MVP award in 2017, had no influence in that clubhouse.
Thanks for clearing that all up.
In July of 2016, Altuve became 3rd all time in games played for the Astros, behind only Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.
But yeah, nobody knew who he was in that clubhouse. He’s too short, they hadn’t seen him in all those games played, 3rd most ever for the franchise.
Before 2017 was even a thing.
Don’t get me wrong, I still consider the organization and all of its achievements a joke, there was plenty of sketchy stuff beyond the trash cans.
But I still kind of like Altuve for his affable nature and leading by example… though I remember somebody here posting a blogger’s analysis showing that while Altuve was the least culpable, the trashcans were still banging away while he was at bat during some key playoff stretches.
Bleu, he literally quoted from the Commissioner’s Report. You are wrong. He is right. Go sit the f down son. Let the adults talk until you learn how to read.
Ok. #6. I can’t take morons that dispute the actual facts or think they know better. Stfu. Oh wait. I won’t see your sorry bleeeep anymore. Goodbye.
Dodgerbleu;
This is what you’re doing with your life?
imagine if Henry had humility and instead of extending Cora, Tito was brought back…
I don’t believe Altuve didn’t actively participate in the cheating. But even if he didn’t, he watched his teammates do it. He was content to benefit from the cheating and a massive hypocrite to not call his teammates out. The Astros are cheaters, Altuve was neck deep like the rest.
The truth is that the Astros were cheating and Altuve stood there and was part of it.
Uhh, the same thing you are?
But using weird things like facts and details?
The Astros cheated. Bregman was an active participant and one of the primary beneficiaries. The last time a team was known to cheat in the world series, 8 guys were banned from baseball. And you think the problem is me pointing out the objective facts of the case, and not the lot you’re with trying to whitewash it like it never happened? Baseball is literally a game that centers around its history, and Bregman and the Trashstros are a stain on it, and if it wasn’t for COVID interrupting it, would’ve lived with those consequences.
Organized humanity isn’t being destroyed by the dbags out there spreading misinformation and whenever they get called out on, double down and try to lie and insult their way out of it. It’s being destroyed by everybody watching but too afraid or apathetic to speak up.
I’d like a return to rational discourse. We’ve had it as recently as a decade ago. So yeah, that’s what I’m doing with my life, and for some weird reason, IDGAF what you think about what I’m doing or what you cry about. I’m doing my thing. You should find a thing. I’d suggest something to make yourself feel useful and good about yourself without trying and failing to tear other people down. Then – this part is important – GFY a couple times.
Since you’re probably baseballisthebest’s second account, hahahaha bozo, I’ll also say you’re right. The Commissioner of baseball would never lie.
He’s not the person that oversees the most well known example of an antitrust violation in the US today..
There was not a Congressional hearing on the use of baseball and the commissioners involvement in its cover up, bc Selig definitely didn’t allow crimes under his watch and then definitely didn’t throw everyone under the bus with witch hunts once he was caught. Biogenisis nothing, totally not his legacy.
There wasn’t hearings about collusion in baseball in 1985, 1986, and 1987, and all 3 times it wasn’t found that the owners and commissioner did indeed collude.
There is no such thing as the 1985 cocaine scandal. Or the 2021 Spider tack scandal that Bauer was right about and spin rates definitely haven’t dropped ~25% since.
Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis didn’t just have his name and memory wiped from the HOF bc he purposely kept the game segregated and lied about it.
In 1977 Bowie Kuhn didn’t lose a lawsuit for violating the 14th amendment rights of Melissa Ludtke.
Manfred definitely didn’t lie about Oakland. sfchronicle.com/sports/article/rob-manfred-lied-oa…
I’m sorry you’re a boot licker that defends the first lie told to him because you forgot how to use your brain, if you ever knew. But that’s a you problem, not a me problem.
He also got to hit against inferior pitchers, because the high-end pitchers got knocked out of games early, allowing the Astros to get into the lower leverage pitchers more often. It’s a whole package.
Altuve WON the MVP because Judge totally disappeared offensively for two months – July and August – in 2017. Altuve hit .346 while Judge hit. 284. Judge couldn’t hit his way out of a wet paper bag. He STILL can’t hit a breaking pitch, and is a postseason clown. I’m pretty sure Altuve doesn’t give a flying flip if you respect him or not. And neither does anyone else. So you just keep hating if it makes your useless, miserable existence bearable.
Wow.
Altuve didn’t steal the MVP from Judge, the baseball writers and whoever else votes on the MVP stole it from him. Even with inflated peripherals from the rest of his team cheating, Altuve’s stats were overall inferior to Judges in 2017. It wasn’t the craziest of snubs at the time but all of us had a moment of saying “okay not my choice but I guess I get it”. The rest of the team cheating only made it worse
Judge wouldn’t have disappeared offensively if he knew what pitches were coming.
“GFY a couple times.”
…Rational Discourse.
You’re wasting your breath. All they will ever have is ‘Astros are cheaters’ because their team can’t get there. Someone has to be the villan. And if its the Astros, that’s fine with me. I know how good HOU has been the last ten years. BOS hasn’t done it. NYY are a bad joke. The only team that comes close is LAD.
It was more an indictment of Correa. Can’t stand the guy
Tired Old nonsensical narrative . Not an Astros fan, but give it a rest . NYY won at least 3 World Series titles with 26 players who admitted to using steroids Googled it: “During baseball’s steroid era, 26 New York Yankees players – 14 pitchers and 12 position players – have been implicated in the use of performance-enhancing drugs” Some reports say they admitted using steroids. Others say they were implicated.
Should we have the NYY forfeit those titles, awards etc?! Bagging on the Astros for 1 year of sign stealing when other teams had allegedly been engaging in sign stealing also over much longer periods of time and also loaded their teams in the steroids era with roided up players is the height of hypocrisy…
Verlander never looked up to Beltran, Mentioning a future Hall of Fame pitcher in a batting trash can sign stealing scandal is too much BS for me. There is zero evidence that Verlander was involved or even knew it was happening.
We also know that some of MLB’s marque franchises were investigated for sign stealing and got off easy….It seems like the Astros were made the scapegoats for sign stealing that may be more widespread that is widely reported. GOOGLED IT:
“Yes
Yes, other MLB teams besides the Astros were also investigated for sign stealing. The Red Sox and Yankees are directly implicated, and there may be more teams using some form of sign stealing”…
True
Googled it:
Yes, other MLB teams besides the Astros were also investigated for sign stealing. The Red Sox and Yankees are directly implicated, and there may be more teams using some form of sign stealing12
They were scapegoating the Astros. Yankees, Red Sox and other ballclubs were allegedly shielded by the league from more serious investigations and disciplinary actions. Would like to know how deeply Cora was involved and what transpired. Probably will have to wait for a broke retired player to write an expose book for $$$$
Selig lied and sabotaged Reggie Jackson’s purchase of the A’s and stadium deals n Oakland. Manfred lied about A’s Stadium deals and viability in SF Bay areas..
MLB HAS ZERO CREDIBILITY ON THESES ISSUES
How could Verlander not have known?? Pitchers sit in the dugout with everyone else while their team takes at bats. If a trashcan can be heard by the batter while he is away from the dugout AND surrounded by mostly sold out crowds cheering and making a ton of noise inside of a closed roof stadium then I 100% guarantee that a pitcher sitting in the dugout could hear it. Mike Fiers certainly knew what was going on.
Now that there is no team in Oakland, Can’t someone come in now to start one? Since the city is willing to build a new stadium, and there is such an abundance of As fans, it should be easy to prosper there.
People have tried to buy the A’s. Joe Lacob has said he would buy the team and build a new stadium.
The only reason they don’t have a new stadium in Oakland is Fisher. He has backed out of 3 different ones that were further along in the process than Las Vegas is today.
MLB not only does not want Fisher out of the game, they voted him into the executive committee.
But Fisher is now in Sacramento, and soon to be LV. What is stopping anyone from taking over Oakland?
Thats a good question Joe. Maybe ask Manfred and the good ole boys club that is MLB owners. They wouldn’t allow a former agent in. They wouldn’t allow Cuban in. Do you really think they are going to sell an expansion team to somebody in Oakland and take away potential revenue from their buddy in San Francisco?
Fisher’s building permit application was denied in Las Vegas. He needs to commit to building 7900 parking spaces and he was only going to build a bit over 2000.
@MW. Almost the right time to throw up. National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is in a couple of weeks, February 24 through March 2, 2025.
And block those young bucks
You should probably get on some xanax or something bro.
I’m happy for Boston and their fans. I think everyone loves Anthony Rendon, er…Alex Bregman.
Other than playing 3B the 2 aren’t even comparable. Bregman plays with an undeniable passion for the game. He also is a rather high IQ player, I remember one play opposing team was calling for a replay on a runner tagging up early scoring from 3rd. Bregman took off from 3rd as they were calling for replay the subsequent out took away replay option and the run saved ended up being winning run.
wow
Well I guess bregman finally blinked
He got $40m/yr, how is that blinking? Sox got fleeced.
Yeah the only way the Sox won is that devers is going to be full time ripoff papi DH unless they trade casas
Bregman could do with doubles off the green monster but he isn’t going to get the power numbers from the Crawford boxes back
40 mil a year feels like an overpay that’s 900 ops money not high 700s
He’s not coming off third
Unless that $ is deferred until next century it’s an incredible deal for Bregman. 120 for 3 years vs 160 for 6. Not crazy to think he could make 40 million in 3 years and if he doesn’t it doesn’t matter because the investment opportunities the next 3 years should make that. Awful terrible horrible contract for Boston
Wish I could take back that best offseason in the AL East vote.
@WadeBoggsWildRideCancel You should change your name to wade Wilson with that sense of humor.
Big overpay.
Devers or Bregman?
A large portion of Bregman’s value is on defense at 3B
Devers actually has more value if he doesn’t play defense at 3B. His defense is so bad it lowers his WAR. Hit only value is hitting.
Many people think Beslow and the Red Sox are not very smart, but no team is dumb enough to pay a player $40 million to not play a position where defense is a large part of his value instead of a players whose only value is hitting.
@sad
Bregman’s 2024 slash @ Fenway:
.583/.667/1.250
His 2023 slash @ Fenway:
.429/.500/.714
His career @ Fenway in 98 PA:
.375/.490/.750
He’s going to have fun in Fenway.
Explain XB playing SS after they signed Story. They did it before.
Wish I could take back mocking Toronto about Bregman. Here are some OPS predictions. 2025 – .750,, 2026 – 705 ,2027 -.680. By August 2025 the hatred will be palpable. By 2026 it will be Jack Clark.
I don’t think it is a terrible contract. It is an overpay, but for just 3 years it limits how much he will block the youngsters. I would much rather they overpay for 3 years than for 6 years. This could end up being a good contract for all involved if he has a monster year and helps them get to the postseason. He can opt out and the youngsters should be ready for next year.
Bregman will play 2b
It’s not a horrible deal for Boston. They have the money to spend and limiting it to a max of 3 years means they avoid the specter of the severe drop off in the later years of the 6 or 7 year deal Bregman was initially looking for. That’s what Boston wanted to avoid and they successfully did that.
They will not be their best version of a team unless Devers is the DH, Bregman is at 3B, and Casas is at 1B. Devers’ refusal to move will severely harm them this year.
Part of that awesome slash line at Fenway has to do with the terrible Red Sox pitching staff. Now he will have to face the other team’s pitchers. I think that has more to do with those numbers than he likes the shapes and colors at Fenway.
Reminds me of Ian Desmond in Colorado
I wonder what happened to him…
larkraxm
Part of that awesome slash line at Fenway has to do with the terrible Red Sox pitching staff.
============================
Since Bregman broke into the league, the RS ERA+ has averaged 105. That makes them above average.
But nice try.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
Reminds me of Ian Desmond in Colorado
========================
Why? They seem nothing alike to me.
So it is the air in Boston that makes Bregman a better player at Fenway park then say T-Mobile park?? I think it is a stupid statistic. I don’t care to look it up, but Bregman has been in the league for 7 or 8 seasons. The Red Sox have been slightly above average for some of those years. I’m sure when most MLB fans think of “above average” pitching staffs over the past 8 years, the Red Sox and all of their winning are the first team we all think of.
It will be important to see how things play out in spring training. If the youngsters are tearing it up and take over second, Bregman may end up at 3rd for at least part of the time. If Yoshida is healthy and hitting he could get traded freeing up DH for Devers or Casas. I think Bregman on a short term contract was smart.
I agree that Bregman short term is smarter than long term, but paying Bregman a top six AAV cannot be summarized as smart.
The short term was smart. The amount was an overpay, but they have been underspending so much they can afford to go overboard on this.
Sometimes you have to overpay to get a FA on the roster. It won’t stop them from making other moves and what not, but dude is getting Aaron Judge money!!!
I know it is a crazy amount of money. I think there was so much pressure to make a big splash that they were willing to pay and I agree he is not going to be putting up Aaron Judge kind of offense. He may be enough to get them to that next level which they have been missing out the last few years.
Not looking nearly as bad with deferred $ Wade.
That is true. 3 year term is good. I don’t buy him opting out at any point. Really don’t see the point playing him at 2nd.
Fleeced? He wanted 6 years and got 3. If he has a good season, he opts out which is fine because Mayer and Campbell will be ready. Sox did great here.
you think Bregman is going to opt out at $40mil/year?
“You think Bregman is going to opt out”….If he plays well, yes I do. Only top tier players typically get opt outs and if Boras/Bregman wanted(and fought for) an opt out in the deal, there’s a reason for that.
Typically, players(and agents)only fight for the things most important to them. Plus the mercurial, ego driven Scott Boras never met an opt out he couldn’t love and exercise.
If Breggie plays one year in Boston and does well, he can then go chase the same contract numbers the Astros offered him which still might be attainable.
@johnny
If he had 2 above average seasons boring at Fenway then yes he’ll likely opt out of the final year @ $40 verbatim I’m sure the Sox wouldn’t be adverse to signing him to another short deal like 3/$90
Depends on how much is deferred. They haven’t said yet. He’ll probably make 30 mil, at least though because he refused to take a paycut and his last backloaded deal he made 28.6 last year.
It’s always funny when people think opt-outs are good for the team.
They wanted a short term. They are way under the luxury tax, so the money didn’t matter that much. Boston got what they wanted. He was insisting on a long term and didn’t get it
Look at it this way:
if you were the RedSox would you rather have three years at $120
Or a six year deal paying $40 a year for the first three years and $17 a year for the last three years
(all numbers in millions)
The optouts are ok if they already have a prospect available for next year.
They sox do have a prospect available for next year
Its not getting fleeced if you have the money and want the player.
Yea they did, 40m AV with opt outs every year for a second tier free agent is one of the most desperate contracts in recent memory.
It’s the 6th highest AAV in MLB history…
“6th highest AAV”.. So Boras can(and will) claim “victory” even when other teams offered Bregman WAY more total dollars.
I mean, he’s making $120M over 3 years. Why would you want to tie up 3 more years (when he’ll only be 33) for $36M extra. There’s a great chance he’ll beat 3/$36M when he hits free agency next.
right but it’s for 3 years. Let Boras and Bregman celebrate that hollow victory.
$40 million is pretty solid. No matter how you slice it, that is the 6th best in MLB history.
Blinked? Do you have a different definition of that? This sounds like a huge overpay. I’d obviously like my team to do something, especially since Giants have basically done nothing since Adames, but I don’t know if I’d be excited about Bregman…..even if it’s just one year for 40 million
Thank you Boston for saving the Astros from themselves. 170m over 6 was not going to age well. Paredes and Cam Smith will get their time at 3B and will do fine. Boston now has 3 3B. I look forward to the headlines written when Bregman hits his first “breggy bomb” at Fenway in June
he’ll likely have 30 doubles by then.
He pretty consistent, that’s huge money
Whoa! This is indeed full throttle after all. Man this offseason plus the loaded farm system? Look out for Boston.
Another Boras failure.
He got a $40M AAV lmao. Some of you will say anything.
Or $120M guaranteed. Lol.
Yeah, $120M guaranteed and a chance at one more solid payday after his age 33 season. He was worth 4.1 WAR this past season and while he is declining, I don’t think he’s doing so nearly as rapidly as some are making it seem.
Given his glove and bat to ball skills, I could definitely see him getting another 3 year deal next time around in free agency (albeit at a much lower AAV).
“$40M AAV”…Last time I checked $40M aav is not more(or as much) than the $156M+ offered by the Houston Astros. So now, Bregman has to move his family and go from a no-tax state to a HEAVILY taxed state. And for LESS total money(and deferrals)no less.
It doesn’t need to be. If he believes in himself at age 33 and beats 3/$36M, then he made the right decision. There’s no disputing that.
that’s not certain. What is certain is that he had an offer for 30 million more than he turned down. you can keep trying to spin it however you want but 120 is less than 156.
“At age 33..and beats 3/36M”..So you’re saying it’ll be YEARS before Bregman knows if he did the right thing financially.
@mlb fan I’m sure Bregman will regret not hiring you to be his life and career coach because who else is there to help guide him and decide what’s best for him and his family besides you.
Yes. Why is that a negative? People crapped on Boras and Snell for Snell’s 2 year deal, then he opted out and beat that initial “best offer” 12 months later and by A LOT, like $40M total. Chapman took less then signed a pretty monster extension based on his tier. Guys take less then ended up coming out ahead All the time these days. It’s part of the game now that less years, higher AAVs with opt outs have taken the league by storm.
And you can keep repeating that all you want. Yes, $156M being more than $120M is a fact, but it lacks nuance. Why tie himself up for 3 more years over $36M when he can re-enter free agency just outside his prime when his carrying card is his bat to ball ability and glove, two skills that don’t rapidly decline with age for those who are successful at it?
If all he looked at is pure numbers without context or considering how to put himself in position for a better next contract, he wouldn’t be maximizing his earning potential. He’s probably still at least a 2 WAR player with those skills in 2027. If a team thinks he can be that from 2028-2030, he’ll beat $36M. Think a little more critically here instead of just focusing on the larger number.
Boo hoo, I’m shedding a tear for his troubles…
@myaccount2 Binary-thinking folks who don’t understand opportunity cost won’t get what you’ve commented.
Lol. Poor thing, 40 per. How will he ever get by?
Absolutely, BleacherCreature. It’s so odd.
@YankeesBleacherCreature..”regret not hiring you”….Said the guy who’s so soft and delicate that he’s afraid to let others reply to him.
You’re like the little spoiled rich kid, hurling insults at others, while standing behind an iron gate and being protected by his father’s security detail.
@mlb fan Here’s a guy in his prime years who has $100M in career earnings and yet you question his career and life choices? Relocation and paying higher taxes isn’t as big of a challenge for someone like him as you may think.
You’re comparing AAV to total value. By that standard Sean Manaea is making more than Shohei Ohtani.
@C Us Sink, I can’t help but shed a tear to C the Mariners sinking…
YOU said he shouldn’t not get more than 3/60. Now you are trying to say that literally double that is a bad thing? Are you serious? GTFOH.
What is even better for Bregman is that if he has a good 2025 and opts out, the new floor for a new deal is $40 million AAV.
His ceiling was $26 million AAV on a 6/156 deal.
That is a $14 million increase in AAV. 46% more than if he took the 6/156.
Boras and Snell saw that work to their advantage after Snell signed a monster contract after that 2 year deal with an opt out with the Giants.
yes it’s nuanced but you’re ignoring the fact that his skills might erode in 3 years or he could get injured. No matter how you slice you slice bregman left money on the table. That part is certain. Whether he is a 2 war player might be probable in your mind but it isn’t a certainty. .
Leaving money on the can be a big deal. THat’s why I keep repeating it. Your choosing to ignore that part doesn’t change the fact that the deal is for less money overall.
Yankees: I understand what he’s saying but “opportunity costs isn’t a guarantee. you can conveniently ignore that part if you want to but it doesn’t change that he left money on the table.
Whereas some of you (most of you, clearly) still don’t understand deferred money and Net Present Value.
And, apparently, Bregman doesn’t either, unless he really thinks that as a 34-yo FA in 2028 he’s likely to beat 3/66m.
Good luck with that, Alex.
I wish I could fail like that. 40m AAV
“Wish I could fail like that”..No. My advice to you, is just keep on failing the way you normally do. Not all changes are good changes you know.
In what way are you saying failing into 40 million is not a good change?
Trade Casas to the Mariners !!!!
Gonna hurt some, Iggy… which young arm are you prepared to lose?
A young Ms arm for Casas.. lol. Did you see how much these 30 year old pitchers were going AAV? SP >>>>> 1B in value.
OK Brettlez, let’s hear your opening salvo in your attempt to pry Casas away. The floor is yours.
Mariners won’t trade for him, rather would just play Raley, Garver, Solano at first. Red sox treat him like he’s not a 1.5-2 war 1B.
Well, you’re probably not wrong, but the subject was trading for Casas and now we all have blue baseballs. Thanks for nothing lol
Casas isn’t worth Luis Castillo much less one of the young arms. If they offered Casas for Emerson Hancock and Harry Ford that would be a fair deal for both sides. Casas had one above average year, not very good defensively, and appears susceptible to soft tissue injuries.
The subject is a joke, Sox treat him like he’s a stud. Won’t go anywhere unless some terrible franchise wants to give a #3 SP for a mediocre 1B/DH
They just bumped that stud out of their starting lineup most likely
I don’t think anyone knows his value yet. I think he has enough potential to be worth Castillo, but agree that he has not proven himself worth one of the younger pitchers. That doesn’t mean he won’t go on to have multiple above average years without injuries. Still to soon to know.
I assume you have spent years professionally scouting all involved and have the expertise to provide your valuable evaluation to the owners so they don’t make such a terrible move. Love these one-sided comments from someone who has blinders on.
According to who? Have not seen the Sox announce that Casas is being moved off of first base. Please share the link.
Aloha Gwynning! I’m so happy my Cubs didn’t sign him! Nothing against BSox, I just want to say Arigatou Gozaimasu to them for signing him away from Jed! Because so often as a Cub fan, young talent is traded away, blocked, etc. There are no guarantees that Shaw makes it right away but at least now he gets an opportunity to make his case.
BTW unique move your Padres made in their signing today. Guess they want more arms in the rotation to be on the safe side. Take care bradduh! Mahalo!
Are you insane!!!
Devers is better at DH instead of 1st
If anything trade yoshida and a prospect away
I was referring to trading Casas
You guys can have your 1 war 1B/ DH
I am fine with the Sox keeping Casas and seeing what he develops into. There are no guarantees he becomes a superstar, but he is young enough and has enough potential that I want to give him the opportunity. Not sure why you have such a negative feeling about him, but if that makes you feel better go ahead and make the childish comments.
I dont think he has star potential and I dont think the red sox do either. They seem like they’ve been actively shopping him to make room.
I don’t think they have been straight up shopping him. They are seeing if anyone will give up young pitching because that is something they lack. We will see what happens, but he is too young and for a short period of time showed significant offensive potential to be written off.
Agreed. The Red Sox were not actively shopping Casas. They were only willing to trade him for young, controllable pitching.
Possibly, I’d place a decent wager hes moved in the next calendar year.
They tried lol
40 million a year is a haul. Looks like holding out worked in his favor. I’m just glad he isn’t on the Astro’s anymore. They lost Tucker and Bregman this off-season
This was purely about years for Boston. I don’t think they ever cared about the dollars as much. Interesting play.
Not if his numbers continue dropping and then he will basically end up making the same amount he would have made with the Astros original offer.
3/$36M would match it. All he has to do is be forecasted to be around a 1.7 WAR player a year come the 2027 offseason. He’s coming off a 4.1 WAR, age 30 season, so will he slow down that much by the time his age 33 season concludes? I guess we’ll see.
Typical decline starts with approximately 7% per season from age 31 through age 35 season. After that it is much steeper.
The linear regression would be.
30 – 4.1
31 – 3.82
32 – 3.55
33 – 3.30
34 – 3.07
35 – 2.85
Its never that clean and most are projecting a 12-15% increase in WAR in Fenway for 2025. 4.6 – 4.7 WAR. Then start the 7% regression from that starting point ending up at about 3.2-33 WAR at age 35.
I don’t think Pads was assuming anything. He was using stats to make an educated prediction. He even said it is never that clean. I personally appreciated his take on the situation. I am not assuming that will be exactly what happens just like I don’t assume the weather man is going to be correct most of the time, but that doesn’t mean it is not a valid attempt to predict what could happen.
Nope–he will make more with Boston. Astros didn’t bite on 40 a year. Their first offer was 156 over 6 (26 per year). I think they upped to about 160 or so the second time around, but not sure about it. Contract with Boston has an opt out after the each season….I can’t see him doing any better than 40 million a year unless he MVP’s 2 of the 3 years, which I’m betting he won’t come close to.
I think he means when his next 3 years of contracts are added to these 3 years.
156 million is still more than 120 million so he isn’t making more money in Boston
I’m pretty sure you know what he means, considering 6 years and 3 years are different. He could re-sign or extend his contract. We won’t know until the 2027 offseason, but you cannot definitively say he won’t at this point.
you can’t definitely say he will make more. look what happened with Berlinger.
You can’t definitively say either way, of course, but 3/$36M is easily attainable in the current times and inflation isn’t going to magically stop anytime soon.
You know what they say, common sense isn’t. Most people just don’t understand that this is not just good, its freaking incredible for Bregman as long as he is even as good as he was last season.
Are they all forgetting that Walker just got 3/60 going into his age 34 season?
but he could decline or get hurt. yes this worked for snell as pads fan said but it doesn’t work for everyone which you pads fan keep ignoring
I’d rather paid him another 40m and had him for twice as long. I wouldn’t have been interested in him period. I would stop being a fan of my team if they handed out this contract. If they do something this stupid what’s next? Signing Story? Trading away the cy young winner for a average 2b?
“Freaking incredible”
He got $4MM more per in AAV for half the years to play in Boston. It’s fine and might work out but it’s certainly not incredible. He sold a prime season for $30MM and bet on himself to do it again. He’ll probably beat the Astros offer in total. He got himself a much nicer pillow than Alonso. Doubt he was looking for this deal initially. Would’ve been snapped up months ago.
I am pretty glad he is not coming back to the Astros too.
Holding out did not work in his favor. This is settling for high AAV in return for the right to opt out and try again next season. He is guaranteed only $120 million compared to $171 million. If he gets hurt or suffers a serious decline, this process burned him. I happen to believe his decline has already begun, so I think this is a bad gamble on his part. Only time will tell.
Thought the Astros offered more?
I think he felt slighted, but this potentially sets him up for more if he kills the monster.
Yeah if AJ Preller is still gm somewhere he doesn’t realize the monster inflates #’s and will give Bregman 300 million. Or Maybe Arte Angels will be impressed.
@ironballs. Yeah I remember seeing 154, but they must’ve pulled it. They were talking about shredding payroll all year. I guess they got walker instead.
And paredes to handle third which means altuve doesn’t have to move to the outfield after all. I don’t think the Astros are losing any sleep!
Worked out perfect for Astros. Casual fans see we offered him more $
That’s the Joke. They didn’t pull it. 120 > 154 156 whatever it was since it’s half the time. Unless a ton of $ is deferred a long time out. He’s probably not planning on retiring at 33 so still time to make the 156
Astros offered more, but for 6 years. AAV on that was just 26M/year
@geofft. Figured three would be more team friendly. Who cares if he leaves when his production drops.
john henry spending money? this is impossible, someone must have hacked into his computer
Probably his interpreter
That’s funny
The Red Sox have been spending around the luxury tax threshold every year and now they are over the threshold.
all in the suit that you wear
The Red Sox have been spending around the luxury tax threshold every year and now they are over the threshold.
==========================
You’re responding to casual fans who have no idea what our payroll is.
Each payroll site will be a bit different. This site has the Red Sox CBT payroll at $246.42M which is $5.42M above the $241M over the CBT threshold.
soxprospects.com/payroll.htm
Saga – the cbt number and the actual payroll are distorted, and that’s before benefits, and the 27-40th players on the roster get added into the mix depending which site is counting.
Cbt allocated signing bonuses across the life of the deal, same with deferred money. For a number of reasons the CBT value of various contracts exceeds the actual checks given to a player in a given year.
Suit focuses on the taxation payroll, not the actual cash out of pocket the team spends in a given season.
Elon and his pimpled face hackers strike again
Bonkers
crazy
Cheaters ha
Yes Boston did cheat to win the 2018 World Series—facts don’t change even if no one will talk about it
Offer up some proof
MLB’s investigation of the 2018 Red Sox went on for months and uncovered no evidence of cheating. They admitted this in their report when they said they have a “factual dispute”, “largely have no direct evidence” and “no written record, recording or other contemporaneous evidence of the underlying events”. If there was any evidence, the facts would not be in dispute. The conclusion of cheating “on at least some occasions” was clearly based on speculation as MLB’s investigation failed to document a single instance of cheating. This was very unfair to the Red Sox and Red Sox fans. The report is still available on mlb.com for all to read.
Manfreds mlb word is good enough for me
Hawkeye, Boston didn’t “cheat” to win. MLB sent a memo explicitly declaring that using tech/video to “steal signs” (as in, to steal them in real time to then respond to in the moment) was banned. Boston thought it was being slick by not clearly violating that memo, using video to LEARN signs so it could then teach the players what to look for in the not-banned in person sign stealing. I don’t blame MLB for penalizing the team, as it wanted to take an ultra hard line in the wake of the Houston scandal and so threw the book at the Red Sox, and that was a risk Boston took when it tried the gamesmanship. No objection to them being punished, but any honest person needs to admit to what they did do versus what they didn’t do. They didn’t use tech to steal signs, therefore they didn’t “cheat”, but they skirted close enough that they not unfairly were made an example of. That’s the deal.
Today is officially Matt Shaw day.
Boston can have him. $120M?? I guess cheating does pay.
In reality he never collects $120 million from the Red Sox. If he has a big season it’s guaranteed he opts out and tries his luck at a bigger payday
I highly doubt he’ll leave. It’s absolutely certainly not guaranteed, as you say. It would take a lot of stars aligning with a resurgence of a season and the contract would have to be front loaded…
$40M per year is not handed out to a lot of 32 year old second basemen easily.
$40 mil a year is a lot more than Astros offered. As an Astros fan I get it and wish him luck in Boston.
“$40M a year is a lot more”…Scott, I thought we talked about this already. Everyone knows it’s you and nobody will believe your spin, that $40M is more than the $155M+ offered by the Astros.
Except people do agree with him as evidenfed by his upvotes. It’s not a spin; time has value, too. Baseball players age. AAV can be more important than total dollars when the goal is to maximize total dollars over all contracts not just one contract. There’s more nuance to this than you’re willing to admit.
I’m not sure what you’re talking about…$40m a year is inarguably more than the Astros offered, which was less than $30m a year.
He’s also getting $120m for 3 years vs ~$160m for 6 years. I’m willing to bet Bregman makes a lot more than $40m over that three year span.
Market and Bitcoin was 20 something not that long ago. 3 years he can easily top that 6 year deal just investing. And he probably isn’t retiring at 33 so he will make something playing baseball.
Dumas, how much did Christian Walker just sign for? He is coming off a 2.6 WAR season, and is the same age Bregman will be when this contract is up. Are you really trying to say that Bregman can’t get that much at the end of this deal? Seriously?
Overpay
Over pay to keep the term short. Not really a bad deal for either side.
40 million for a dude on a decline is a bad deal for Boston—BUT, they have more than enough funds on hand and revenue to withstand a stupid contract.
it’s one thing to give 40 million over 6 years vs 3. that’s what makes this an ok deal for boston and not a bad one
He’s mashed at Fenway. Don’t discount that yet.
Awful deal for Boston. Bregman probably going to cry for weeks from being so happy.
.375/.490/.750/1.240 with a 189 OPS+ at Fenway over his career. God help the AL if he is able to come even close to that in 2025.
Not in terms of total guaranteed dollars.
Based on what we know from countless reports on Bregman this offseason, he would have taken a 6 or 7 year deal if any team has been willing to offer a $30 million AAV. That would have been a far worse contract. Plus, there’s some amount of deferred money in the deal, which explains the inflated annual salary.
He’s moving to a far more hitter friendly park in Fenway and the opt outs should keep him motivated. FWIW, last season he had his highest hard hit rate and exit velocity since 2019. There’s no reason the bat can’t bounce back if he starts hitting the ball in the air more again and increase his fly ball rate.
“He’s moving to a far more hitter friendly park in Fenway…”
dankyank;
Have you seen the size of the Astros home field?
Yes. I’ve also seen the park factors for Daikin park, which are exactly league average.
That’s a ton of money for a guy without a clear fit in the line-up.
2b and if he stays past year 1, then devers will probably have to move
Devers is a solid 3B and the franchises cornerstone. You don’t move Devers to accommodate this clown.
Very few people seem to think he is solid at 3rd. Everyone except him and his agent has talked about moving him off of there.
Devers and solid 3b don’t belong in the same sentence. If everything goes right, and with help from scorers, he is a just below average 3B. Most years fall somewhere less than that.
@jakethesnizake
Defensively Bregman is substantially better than Devers who is far from being a clown.
Yaaaaaaaaa
“A solid 3rd baseman”??? Are you joking ?
@jake So you ve never watched a Red Sox game I take it. Devers is anything but a solid 3B.
Devers is one of the 2 worst 3B in baseball the last 3 seasons.
DRS: -24. Only Bohm was worse at -27
FRV: -12 No one was worse
OAA: -17 No one was worse.
DEF WAR: -4.1 No one was worse
And he wasn’t better in 2024 either. He ranked dead last in them all
DRS: -9 dead last
FRV: -5 dead last
OAA: -6 dead last
DEF WAR: -1.7 dead last
Your pet rock has more range.
Last season if he had played DH his WAR would have been higher. 4.1 bWAR and 4.5 fWAR
I think devers is moving to DH because it makes no sense for him to stay at 3rd with a GGlover incoming
Defense has been an issue in Boston for a while now. An infield of Devers at 3rd, Story at SS, Bregman at 2B, and Casas at 1B sounds like a long season for the pitching staff.
That’s a little over 90 million for an IF that is maybe the worst in baseball defensively.
Awful contract but you find a spot for Bregmans bat in any lineup.
it’s not awful or even close to awful. Bogarts Contract is awful and I like Xander. if you’re cranky about the AVV then you’re missing the point
If the deferral numbers are right, this is a pretty good contract.
Joe- I would say “very” good for both the team and the player. 3/90 is great for the sox in terms of long risk. If Bregman has a banner yr he gets a 2d shot at the long term deal. If he opts out the Sox have a yr to further assess all the prospects. A true win/win.
It’s a lot of money but a player his caliber, they’ll find a spot for him.
There is a clear fit at 3rd, the question do the make Devers DH or move to 1B.
He’s gonna be at 2nd
Are you kidding. Bregman takes over at 3B and Devers moves to DH or 1B. The best would be Devers at DH because his defense costs the team wins.
Starting 3rd base. It’s a lock
Dang. What a nerd.
From one cheating team to another.
HF… but, he’s worth more than Rendon!
It’s an annual way overpay but a short term. Interesting.
Wow that’s crazy. Good for him. I guess that’s why players wait until the last minute to sign.
Beantown making an end run! Love to see it, enjoy the season gents!
That’s a very large AAV, but limited years. Interesting deal, curious to see how it is structured.
Bregman gets 40 large a year and can opt out after each season…could be a 1 year hit or a 2 year stay…..or if he continues to decline, three mediocre years for MVP money
It is an odd deal structure in that most players with his talent are signed to deals that pay them into their late 30s. Bregman might actually be good for all three years of this deal.
Sounds like the deferrals may bring the present value under $100M? And that’s a reasonable amount to pay for the best remaining three years (possibly the only useful years) of his career.
Wait – If the reports are true that it’s $30M AAV then I’m fine with it contract-wise.
It’s the ensuing moves that concern me.
Fangraphs basically subbed Bregman into their lineup in place of Campbell. If that is how it actually plays out, then the signing barely moves the needle. (The Fangraphs projection improved from 84 wins to 85 wins.)
On the other hand, consider the following roster:
C: +Wong, Narvaez
IF: *Devers, Story, +Bregman, *Casas, +Campbell
OF: *Duran, *Abreu, *Anthony, Rafaela
DH: *Yoshida, +Refsnyder
That’s a really nice roster overall. I have some qualms about Wong and Story as starters, but the Bregman deal doesn’t impact either. It does add alternatives at other positions, especially on the infield.
Yoshida’s shoulder is reportedly still hurting, and it is thought that he won’t be ready for Opening Day. I’m not at all convinced that he will be an asset at any time this year. Remove Yoshida from that picture, slide Devers over to DH, Bregman to 3B, Campbell to 2B, and you have a working lineup.
Rafaela needs to show a modicum of plate discipline to hold down a starting job, no matter how good his defense. He could slide into a fourth outfielder role, with Anthony stepping into the starting lineup. Campbell is also capable in the OF and has at least a little experience there.
You just have to trust Cora to get the most out of his roster..
OOPS! Sorry for spraying coffee out my nose, I couldn’t deliver that one with a straight face.
A ton of depth and flexibility.. If the prospects aren’t ready, or if there is an injury or two, we still have Hamilton and Grissom. Both have options remaining.
Just remember that the lineup on March 1 isn’t the lineup on May 1. We had a pretty sweet lineup last year, up until the point that Casas and Story went down for the count. Because of the depth, this lineup is MUCH less vulnerable to injury.
Wait – While reading that about Cora I sprayed coffee out of my nose too …. and the scary thing is I never drink coffee!
Yeah no question this is the best I’ve felt about their lineup since 2022. It’s so nice to have REAL prospects as backups, instead of other teams retreads.
Thanks I didn’t hear about Yoshida’s shoulder still hurting. If he can’t play then at least he’ll be on the IL instead of taking up someone else’s spot on the roster.
I’d really like to know if they move Devers right now, or at least platoon him at 3B. Doesn’t make sense to play Bregman at 2B and therefore have Grissom/Campbell/Mayer blocked.
Yeah I agree could be a lot of moving around the field. Maybe the plan is to package Campbell & Mayer for Skubal next offseason, which means holding them back this year? I don’t want Campbell in the OF.
I don’t believe that Mayer is blocked. His natural position is shortstop – though an eventual move to 3B could make sense in some scenarios. Mayer’s only path to the majors this year is if Story gets injured or falls off the table.
More to the point, it is silly to worry about blocking a prospect who hasn’t yet played an inning in AAA and is a step or two short of being a sure-fire starter let alone a sure-fire stud. Worry about that problem when he has mastered the minors.
My *guess* is that they use Yoshida’s injury as an excuse to play Bregman at 3B and Campbell at 2B (assuming Campbell looks good in ST). My *hope* is that it goes so swimmingly that nobody wants to rock the boat after a month or two, and they settle into that arrangement permanently.
Obviously I don’t have high expectations for Yoshida.
Wait – So you still feel for Devers it’s Go Directly to DH Jail, Do Not Pass First Base, Do Not Collect $200 (but do collect $200M).
Won’t hurt Devers to work out at 1B, but right now Casas is the incumbent and presumably the better defender. He has improved to roughly league average, as far as I can tell.
So yeah, DH as the primary position for Devers (some starts at 1B and 3B) seems the best to me.
Devers is as valuable a player as Bregman in his own way, a much better hitter even if he can’t play defense very well. Maybe they should increase his salary to $40M/year?
All told, I’m less interested in the price tag than I am in keeping good players in Boston. I believe Devers could blossom as a DH.
Sagacity, did you read what I said? I said that Mayer isn’t ready yet, isn’t blocked from the majors, and that he isn’t a sure thing to succeed in the majors.
I also said that Casas is the better defender and that Devers shouldn’t presume to replace him.
The biggest difference between what I said and what you said is that I acknowledge that sometimes tomorrow looks different from today.
I also didn’t say Devers was elite. You are imagining things? I said that Devers is a much better hitter than Bregman, with 412 wRC (11th in the majors) over the last four years vs. 348, and an age differential that (to me) suggests that gap will widen over the next four years. Bregman isn’t elite either.
Finally, I realize that we differ in our opinions. I’m not sure why you seem to find that so offensive? Bullying me might make me shut up, but it won’t convince me or anybody.
Sagacity (nee KD17) has some issues.
Sag, ie.KD17 is a troll and needs to be a ignored.
As a neutral party who knows a lil something about trolls saga doesn’t appear to be one. Definitely a lot of other words fit but not troll.
I don’t find labeling helpful…
Saga has some interesting ideas, but I’m not always going to agree with him. I’m lucky if I agree with myself!
I enjoy getting guys aroused. See this acell guy below. Agree with the labels. It’s just having a bit of fun. Troll is harsh. I’m not a selfish lover. They get to feel smart wity internet tuff guy. Got one guy calling me stupid because of my paragraph structuring. Even sent me a link too a study. Bringing up things from years ago I aroused him with. Fascinating stuff.
Saga is putting in way to much time and effort and passion. If they are a “troll” they are a different breed of ones I am familiar with.
KD17 =Sag Ignore him and he will change his handle again.
Wait – Not having played in AAA is not a big deal these days. It’s not the 70’s anymore, AA is the true proving ground now. Plenty of players have gone from AA to the majors with little or no time in AAA.
I think the shiny new toys (Campbell & Anthony) may be distracting you from how good Mayer could be. The only concern is his inability to stay healthy, otherwise he’s got quite a high ceiling.
There’s no way to predict how an entire season will play out, but I would be shocked if Mayer isn’t with the team at some point this year …. probably not on Opening Day unless trades are made by then, which seems unlikely.
Wait – How can you say Mayer isn’t blocked from the majors right now?
He’s got Bregman, Grissom, Story, Rafaela, Gonzalez, Campbell and Hamilton all ahead of him on the middle infield depth chart UNLESS Bregman takes over 3B.
Now that Bregman is here, Story sliding over to 2B to have Mayer at SS is not as likely.
The only real solution is to move Devers off 3B. Unfortunately it will not be done the right way, but the Red Sox aren’t known for doing things the right way.
The posts are usually quite lengthy, but the summary is usually identical. Since I have him mute, I don’t know what he posted.
Would my presumption that he doesn’t like Bregman signing be correct?
Mayer isn’t at his ceiling yet. Toss him into the majors now and you’ll get a .240 BA with 30% strikeouts and inconsistent defense. He really needs another half season or more of minor league experience.
He’ll get his chance soon enough, I don’t think we have to worry about it. Hopefully he finishes polishing his game in the minors before that happens.
Bets on Story playing a full 150 game season?
Nah, he likes Bregman but thinks Devers is a disaster and Mayer is a flop.
No way is Alex Bregman a $40m/year player. That’s nuts.
Once the season starts, yes he will be a $40M year player.
He is though. Didn’t you notice?
Cincy – Then it’s a good thing he’s not getting paid $40M AAV.
I called that! Short term, huge money, so he can go on the market and get the rest of the 6/200 he was looking for
He’ll eat poop in 2025 and wind up staying put for all three. Big overpay.
coprophagia
For 40 million a year, the Red Sox can have him. Despite bregman wanting to sign with the tigers, I wouldn’t turn down that offer either.
Bregman is probably laughing his ass off the he got Boston to pay 40 million a year for him. I wanted him to stay in Houston, but 40 million is a stupid overpay
again it’s only for 3 years. you keep getting hung up over the AAV. you’d actually have more of a point if the sox gave him 5 years or more but they didn’t.
Bregman did NOT WANT to sign with Detroit, who you kidding?
He signed with the team with best stadium for righties outside of the team he just left
Det offered the 6 yrs he wanted. Offered more total money than Hou, Chi and Boston. He just didn’t want to sign w DET.
So, ef’m. We move on.
Bregman said himself that he wanted to go to Detroit. Get your facts straight
So glad the Tigers didn’t go there. He is not worth $40 mil a year or the 6-7 year deal he wanted.
Agreed. I wanted the tigers to get bregman, but he’s not worth that money. And a 6-7 year deal would be very risky. Especially if you remember what happened with Baez
For sure, Tigs will be OK with Vierling and Jung
Came here to say the same thing. Money better spent on Skub.
I’m relieved the Tigers didn’t spend that on him.
Maybe Harris will make a trade. Red Sox still need pitching and have a deep farm. Tigers are deep w/pitching.
Amen
The Tigers absolutely went there ! Bregman shunned them
6 years was too long. If he wanted the most money he could get he missed out.
I feel the same way as a Cubs fan.
Devers stays at 3B, right?
Congrats Red Sox fans!
To start I’m sure. But if Campbell is tearing it up and devers is hacking out at 3b, there will have to be a hard conversation.
Maybe Bregs to 2B? Superior glove over Devers, though… maybe perma-DH for Devers?
Let’s see if Devers starts taking reps at 2B in ST. I doubt he’ll be happy being DH if he doesn’t even want to move off 3B.
Papi will talk him into it. Going to DH pretty much full time put him in the HOF.
Really 3 options.
1. Devers at 3B. Bregman at 2B which blocks the young kids, forcing a trade.
2. Devers at DH. Forces a Yoshida trade which seems very unlikely.
3. Devers at 1B. This is the scenario I like the least, and involves trying to find a match for Casas or Yoshida. Which again, seems though.
Love that they are willing to spend 40MM AAV on Bregman on the decline bat wise but won’t crack open the piggy bank to sign actual pitching help.
Buehler not actual help? Crochet, irrespective of how he was obtained?
Buehler last pitched well in what, 2021?
Crochet pitched a great half season, and if they want to extend him, he would be cheapest before he has a chance to tack on more, healthy innings.
Maybe that’s the piggybank move for the pitching this year? I would attempt the same thing…
For the record, I wanted Buehler at a lower AAV for my Pads. We’ll settle on Pivetta, I guess! Cheers
Did you forget about the world series that just happened?
And what, hope they win a bidding war for Cease? Not many top tier options this coming off season compared to the last two years.
I meant extend Crochet now-ish, but yeah Cease probably headlines next year’s TOR options.
Hey, looks like there was another 6-year-offer on the table after all! Oh, wait….
Lol. I’m sure Jon Heyman and Co. will have something to say to that.
x.com/CodyStavenhagen/status/1889897099443184126?t…
The Tigers had a 6 year offer on table.
No congrats if they leave Devers at 3B. He cots them wins by staying at 3B even without signing the clearly superior defense 3B in Bregman.
No chance. Devers days at 3rd are done. And he makes waaay to much for a DH so he has to move to first
Wowzers……
$40 million a year for a declining 31 year old Alex Bregman is crazy, even if it is only a 3 year guarantee.
It’s not even that…Bregman can opt out after each year
He can, but it isn’t certain that he will.
The money is guaranteed if he wants it.
MoTie not liking this new development.
I guess this makes it either New York or Houston for Arenado.
Arenado is happy to stay in St. Louis.
Why would Houston want Arenado now ?
How many times does Arenado have to block a trade to Houston? Is his NTC like a “Get Out of Jail Free” Monopoly card that you have to turn in upon usage? I guess he’s all but assured to be an Astro now!!!
Sox might still trade for Arenado and have Bergman play 2nd, Devers to DH full time. Lots of bats in the lineup now and gold glove potential at 4-5 positions,
If they did that they’d have to trade Yoshida and Casas and apparently nobody wants either one
Obviously Bregman is taking the money, but if he has to play 3B/DH with Devers, doesn’t that mean that Yoshida would be forced back into playing LF and bringing with him bad defense?
Roman Anthony.
@OKBaseballFan Bregman’s obviously—weirdly—NOT taking the money. The NPV, the actual value of the deal he just took was 3/90m. He apparently rejected 6/156m.
So in the 2027-2028 offseason, as a 34 yo FA, he’ll need to get at least 3/66m in FA for his age 34-36 seasons to beat what the Astros offered.
No wonder the bad guys open schlock shops in boiler rooms, based on how little people here understand about net present value, interest rates, the future value of money, and so on.
Bregman didn’t take the money, for whatever reason, though based on comments here it’s entirely possible his agent said a dozen times “but it’s not $40m, Alex—not really,” but all Bregman heard and understood was “Boston offered 3/120m.”
Hey they finally got the RHH they needed…. who has reverse splits and is trending downward… and blocks one of the best prospects in baseball… and locks up payroll for 3 years.
Nice own goal, guys.
Don’t forget there needs to be at least one corresponding move, because there is no reason to have Yoshida and Grissom/Campbell on the roster. They need to free up a spot for Devers and Bregman.
Stroman? Since Henry found his wallet.
In the short term it looks like Yoshida will start on the IL. Long term, who knows what happens.
Vltc – yeah but I think it’s important to get the long term solution in place, because if you want to get Grissom/Campbell ABs, the earlier the better.
I don’t think stashing them in the minors would work, not enough roster spots unless you throw Campbell in the OF which may expose some defensive issues and decrease his trade value.
The way I see it is
DH – Devers
2b – Campbell
3b – Bregman
IL – Yoshida
When Yoshida is healthy,that looks like a Yoshida problem more than anyone else. Any injury and it probably works itself out this year. Next year, someone gets offloaded.
It just seems like they are having a hard time moving Yoshida due to them not wanting to eat a ton of salary.
I think this signing just causes more problems than it solves, for now. And the money could have been better off on adding actual pitching help.
Joe – I totally agree. I’d really like to see them focus on their biggest need, catcher.
But they are doing the right thing by allowing Yoshida to play and rebuild his value, he’s looking like he’ll have a huge season this year.
Grissom and Campbell can both be optioned to AAA… Campbell can play LF too and if he’s hitting they’ll find ABs for him. Grissom might be the odd man out… but he is still young enough that if he really turns it around I’m sure they find a way to get him into enough games whether it be because of injury or getting creative.
Grissom really needs to improve his defense. He was historically a sub-par fielder with atlanta, and, IF defense has been an Achilles heel for Boston of late as it is.
Really to see this move for what it is, bregman probably opts out and tests the market free of a QO with a solid season at any point.
Oof, you just reminded me that we are also giving up a draft pick for this. I just threw up a little.
Well, if it makes it easier to swallow just pretend breslow never gave pivetta the QO, that pivetta held out till after the draft to sign, or that the second rnd pick dropped to 77th overall.
They lose a draft pick for Bregman and gain one from Pivetta.
Suit – I had assumed part of the stalemate in this deal was breslow had a set $$$ in mind accounting for loss of the 2md round pick.
I also think the front office at this point was assuming Pivetta would wait out the draft and was no longer expecting the QO compensation.
As soon as I saw pivetta sign I began thinking it may change the calculation on Bregman, as the pick loss was nearly a wash.
GASox – The draft is scheduled for mid-July, no chance Pivetta would have waited that long to sign. That would mean by the time he got ramped up it would be August.
My official stance on the signing, it’s likely a $30M 1 yr contract …. good deal contract-wise, but I need to see how related decisions unfold before rendering a final verdict.
And I don’t give a damn about the draft pick, some get overly obsessed with it. It’s not like we are talking an overall Top Ten pick or something.
GaSox – At $30M AAV I’d say he DEFINITELY opts out after this season, unless he has a nightmare season.
Jeff – So what you’re saying is the Sale to Atlanta trade is an even bigger blunder than we thought. That’s just great.
I realize gaining an unrelated draft pick makes one feel better about it, but the loss of the pick for Bregman is complete independent. The choice to sign Bregman costs our 2nd round pick, regardless of any picks gained.
Only if Bregman doesn’t opt out….but since he’s in a bit of decline right now, I’m willing to bet he sticks it to Boston and stays for the full 3 years. He can opt out after each year. CRAZY overpay
Hawkeye – completely agree.
To be clear, I think Bregman should be a help this year, but I peg him for a relatively modest 2.5 WAR.
In the end, it’s $120M for 5, maybe 6 WAR best case, spread over 3 years? And an awkward fit to boot?
VLTC – May I ask why you are referring to it as a $120M deal when you already knew there would be a significant amount of deferred money bringing down the AAV and total contract value?
That war prediction is completely ridiculous. He has averaged about 4.5 war over the last three years. As long as he stays healthy he will probably average between 3 and 4 war so a more accurate prediction would be between 9-12 war over the next three years. In his entire career he has had 3 years under 2.5 war one was his rookie season when he played a third of the season another was the pandemic season when he played 42 games and the other season was probably his worst in 2021 when he played 91 games. If he gets anywhere near his 155 games and normal amount of at bats in those seasons he’s closer to 3.5 to 4 war player. Your prediction isn’t based in any facts whatsoever. The only way your ridiculous prediction comes true if he gets injured.
A 3.5 to 5 war player is certainly worth the 31 million npv that Boston takes for lux tax purposes. Quite frankly I’d be surprised if he’s worth less than 4 war this year just based on historical facts.
We had no info on the deferrals at the time of those posts. Feel free to mentally change the $120M for $95M or whatever it is effectively.
As I said, *I* peg him for about 2.5 WAR this year. I didn’t mean to imply the safety guess or third party projection which would be higher (typically more like 3.5 this year, and less as he continues to get older).
Im just not personally high on him. I think some of his downward metrics are very concerning. And the under the hood stuff makes me even more concerned. I’m also factoring in him possibly learning a new position in his 30s. I find him a somewhat poor fit to our needs because of his strong reverse splits.
That said, I’m sure he will likely help significantly this year. And adding some veteran leadership is definitely helpful (despite kind of being a heel… Astros and cheating and all). Best case scenario, he has a good year, we win the world series and he opts out!
VLTC
As I said, *I* peg him for about 2.5 WAR this year.
======================
Most peg him for 3.8-4.0. 2.5 seems unlikely.
VLTC the evidence doesn’t support your theory especially when you also factor in how good he was in the second half of the season. He’s much more likely to be a 5 war player than 2.5 war.
5 is more outside the range of projections than 2.5. For example, fangraphs list of projections span 3.1–4.0.
If one assumes a 100% healthy season and he plays 3b, then my personal over/under is probably more like 3.1. If I factor in an average amount of missed time and maybe learning a new position in his 30s, I get closer to 2.5.
Much of his worrisome stuff didn’t get better I’m the 2nd half. He still forgot how to walk and was chasing more.
Sagacity,
I don’t think anyone here is claiming a specific number. It’s a proxy and shorthand for how you see a player. As you suggest in different words, it’s a conduit of discussion.
How is it a crazy overpay when it’s only for three years? if it was 6 you’d have a point. The AAV is hollow victory for Boras nothing more.
Not really. The opt-outs hurt the team, but this isn’t all that much more than what the Cubs paid Bellinger and Bregman has a much stronger track record while by fWAR his decline isn’t nearly as steep as it looks by bWAR.
i feel like the 2 fan bases that complained the most, non stop, every second of every minute of every day for the last 4 months are padres + redsox and both tms just made great signings
Padres made a very good signing. Sox, not so much unless half the money is deferred.
Lol
What is it with boston fans? Never satisfied, always unhappy
Chand – Not true at all.
Intelligent fans are happy with good decisions and unhappy with bad decisions.
Now that we know this will likely be a $30M 1 year investment, we are cool with it on the surface …. but there are still many questions to be answered about the overall impact on the team.
You can add in Mets fans, Reds fans, and Mariners fans too
In all fairness M’s fans have something to cry abt, 50 yrs never won a WS , never even won a pennant
Mets fans are miserable bc they’ve been a joke for almost 4 decades but cohen’s changing the culture now
Please.
Cohen is Fred Wilpon without Madoff.
Cora knows what value he brings to the dugout but 40M a year? Good for him. Won’t play out well for Boston I’m afraid.
It’s not 40 million a year. What’s wrong with you people?
Innumeracy Kills!
Boston, we have a problem. $40M per for Bregman? That’s a serious overpay. Astonished.
Arenado’s movers are on line 1. They want to know if they should unload the moving van.
I knew the Cubs wouldn’t sign him. Barring a bad year, this is a one year, 40M deal. The AAV would have taken Cubs over the tax line and that cheap ass Ricketts won’t do it again. Maybe if Hoyer hadn’t gone over it last year by such a small margin. A late trade would have let them duck under the tax but despite being a numbers guy, apparently math isn’t his best subject.
Barring any year he can’t beat 2/60m in FA.
Can not believe he only got 3 years.
Meh, .270 career BA.
His offense has been trending downward the last 3 seasons and he’s about to turn 31.
5 or 6 years at the $30+ million AAV he wanted was always a longshot.
Im curious to see how the infield shakes out now. Devers doesnt want to move off 3b, does bregman go to ss or 2b with story manning the other? Or do you bruise devers ego and move him to 1b and trade casas?
Devers is a terrible 3rd baseman and should play where he is told to play.
>Devers has been vocal about preferring to stick at third base.
If Devers truly is that bad and Bregman would be an upgrade at 3B, why are the Sox capitulating to Devers?
The Red Sox would have figured this out before they moved on Bregman. They weren’t just going to sign him as a 3Bman only to find out Devers was adamant about not moving.
We can think all we like that the player ‘should play where the team tells him’ but there are dozens of examples in MLB history where that kind of thinking went horribly wrong.
No team volunteers for a headache like that.
Porc – The status of Devers is a huge unknown. When they agreed to the extension, it’s very likely they discussed how long he would be at 3B. If the Red Sox promised to keep him there until at least Age 30, they are kinda stuck.
Well, that’s interesting.
Horrible deal for the Sox.
Where is he going to play? Are they finding a taker for Yoshida? If not, then you have Campbell and Grissom wasting away.
Don’t spend money on actual SP but pay 40MM for Bregman whose bat has been declining for the last 3 years.
You have to think there’s a corresponding move lined up. Anything ranging from a Casas trade to a straight up release of Masa. I think Raffy will take one for the team and go to DH. Bregman at 3rd. Full on competition at 2B which is nice.
And now all of a sudden Boston has a decent infield. Contract details aside, I like this move a lot.
There has to be another trade incoming, because even if Yoshida starts in the IL, they sooner they figure out the roster situation and can get everyone consistent ABs and innings they will.be better off.
It just complicated things a lot more rather than spending money to actually fix the rotation.
I think it’s a fantastic signing by Boston ! Who cares if they find a taker for yoshida?? He can sit the bench and that should have no impact on signing a player like Bregman to a short term deal. Grissom and Campbell can both earn it ! And in Grissoms case, he never has, so he can sit the bench or in 3A.
They’re not just going to have Yoshida sit on the bench, they will clog up the DH spot with him as they have done previously instead of getting ABs to more deserving players.
If the Sox didn’t have Yoshida clogging up the DH spot, this move looks much better.
Assuming Devers goes tot DH, the projected bench would be Ref, Yoshi, Navarez/Sabol and Grissom/Campbell… one of which we assume will win the 2B job.
Not terrible. Yoshi would be the highest paid reserve in the league which is imperfect, but it can be a very fluid roster.
swan – Don’t forget Rafaela could go to the bench if Roman becomes an everyday starter.
They like Romy, but his inability to hit RHP may lead to him leaving.
Well at least I won’t have to wake up at least once in the middle of the night to check this page anymore.
I don’t get it. We spend the last 5 years rebuilding our farm system and now we have some solid prospects ready to make contributions and we sign players blocking their path to the big leagues.
It’s weird, particularly if the reported contract details are accurate.
steve – I think the expectation is Bregman opts out after this season.
And if Story has a good year, he could be traded as well.
None of them is really a surefire third baseman, this shouldn’t affect anything. Campbell might be able to play there, but it’s not a sure thing. He has a quicker path to the majors being the guy who plugs the ongoing black hole at second base, anyways.
Likewise Mayer is going to be the shortstop of the future. If he isn’t able to stick there as some have expressed a fear of, I don’t think he’s going to fare any better at third in that case. So that’s another guy not blocked or displaced by this.
The other elite bats in our system are mostly all outfielders.
The fact reporting recently said they were going to test Mayer out at other IF positions make me think this FO sees what many fans have said since the story/Bogey situation played out… namely that Mayer is NOT a lock on ‘ss of the future’…
Boston has 1b/dh well covered. But the rest up the middle, less so. You’d hope mayer/campbell/grissom could put something together, but, I think we likely see one plus-level player, one average/journeyman, and one that doesn’t put it all the way together due to ability/injury issues in the group.
What is the issue with Mayer? I’m not able to watch MiLB action most of the time so I haven’t really been able to get the live “eye test” myself. But just going off highlights I’ve seen and reports I’ve read, his defense at short doesn’t sound like a worry. Is it his speed/reaction time or something? I’m obviously missing something here and I’m very curious for an intelligent explanation on that (I’m not doubting that there is or may be one, I’ve just been trying to look a little on my own and not finding one).
The only worries about Mayer at this point is he might have trouble hitting curve balls and might have trouble staying healthy. I am not too worried about his health as I think they have been very cautious with him.
Dirty – Suit pretty much has it. You know, Mondesi had some tools and was well regarded, but, never put it together to reach his potential.
Mayer has some health flags, the hitting needs some work, he’s made some poor decisions about knowing when to not try gritting through a health issue that I hope he’s finally understanding and outgrowing. But he really never lived up to the bill for being taken as high as he was – not his fault for being picked though.
One question that may hold him back is his ability to adjust. Moving through the minors he has been slow to make adjustments when changing levels or when he’s attacked differently. Then he finds something that works and is alright again.
BUT, that pattern could be a deadly sin at the MLB level where pitchers and coaching staffs find new ways to attack you and you constantly need to be adjusting and re-adjusting.
It’s not saying he can’t be a contributor, but, he’s a long way from being a regular silver slugger/allstar caliber player like the guy he was anointed to replace when drafted.
Makes sense, got it. Thanks to you both. That does make sense and especially justifies tempering our expectations for him right away…but I think also helps support the point that if he doesn’t stick at short, I think it’s an issue of him not sticking period. It’s not like poor range or a noodle arm or something that you can hide with a position change. He’s either going to learn to hit major league pitching or he’s not. I’m hoping for all hope that he does, because if he busts to me that kind of means the Chaim Bloom era was for nothing. As mad as I’ll always be about how they let Betts and Bogaerts out the door it’s obviously an easier pill to swallow if the prospects hit.
GaSox – Scouting reports have also projected Mayer as a 3B. I agree with you, Campbell could take over at SS after Story is gone.
Dirty – It’s not just me that considers Mayer potentially the 3B of the future.
From SoxProspects:
“Some long-term concerns about his ability to stick at shortstop as he matures. Organization appeared poised to get him some reps at third base midway through 2024, but injuries, including the one that eventually ended his season after July 30, effectively scuttled those plans.”
Yeah, I’ve read that too. But everything else I’ve read, including the rest of their own profile on him, has been glowing and positive enough I’ve never known how big of a risk this really is. I just remember Bogaerts going through the same speculation and it never came to pass, so my mindset has kind of been to think of it the same way until proven otherwise. So I may end up wrong, but I’d rather be the last one to reach a conclusion than to just be out here parroting other peoples’ thoughts when I haven’t had the opportunity to observe for myself.
I’m not convinced Mayer is the SS of the future. Arias looks like a pretty decent prospect, and Mayer would make a great trade chip for young pitching.
Mayer is still the SS of the future or perhaps 3B if he grows out of the position.
KD 17: Performance does matter more than opinion. He’s 100% best SS based on performance and one of the best SS prospects in baseball. you should answer your own question and not let your opinion of Mayer cloud your judgement.
Elite gms like myself don’t care about past performance. They predict future performance.
And how does one predict future performance if they don’t care about past performance?
Player ability and projection. You don’t have to completely ignore past performance. Just pick the right things about it and make sure it will play at MLB level.
Examples a lefty with funky mechanics will do well in A ball but need to project how he will fare vs more experienced players down the road. A multi sport star may struggle early but you can project how a 3rd pitch or control should come along in the future. A kid doesn’t have power now but you can project how much strength you can add to his body. Past is history. All about future. Teams didn’t give a it what Cole Musgrove Morton Glasnow Holmes did with Pirates in past. Only what they can do for us in future. And past performance didn’t help the pirates with Archer.
Joe, agreed on Arias. Maybe. This will be a key year to see what he is made out of.
If both Arias and Mayer are successful, Mayer would be a good fit at 3B. But I’m not going to cross that bridge until we come to it.
Whoa
i just realize astros lost tucker + bregman
and somehow they’ll still win the al west
get those trash cans ready boys!
Right ! What are the mariners even doing lol ??
Spankees are toast, they lost Soso!
Bonkers move by the Redsox.
Well, this will be the final straw for the cubbies going very far with the expectations put on a rookie 3rd baseman and all that pressure to perform out of the gate at a high level
A contract like that is the Scott Boras Special!
(I don’t like Scott Boras)
Good to see.
$40MM a season!!!! That is crazy high. He isn’t nearly worth that. Guess he made it worth the wait. Good for him.
@cbraves It’s also not $40MM a season!!!! any more than Ohtani’s deal was worth $700MM!!!!
Hey smart stuff, I posted this before there was anything mentioned about deferred money
Close enough for Champagne!
It would be nice if the Red Sox could opt out.
Bregman reunion with Cora….
Finally! And exactly what I wanted – shorter term, higher AAV. This is perfect. He is still a perfectly fine player for the next 3 or 4 years, I’m willing to bet. I don’t want his mid/late 30’s and they won’t be our problem.
Great move, please tell me there is a corresponding move of Devers to DH and I’ll really be fired up!
And thanks for at least giving us something to look forward to again, guys. This team should be plenty fun to watch.
Is Devers defensive weakness his fielding, his throws, or both?
Absolutely both.
Thanks.
At least, unlike the Mets / Alonso deal, Bregman’s the kind of player you DO give opt-outs to.
He can continue to decline normally, put up a 3.3 to 3.6 fWAR season in 2025, be ‘worth’ the NPV $30m for that year, stick around, and as the team you’re not unhappy. Even if he plummets to 2.5 fWAR in 2025 and sticks around, you might recoup value if he puts up a 3-4 win season in 2026.
I look at the contract as a win-win. I do think he is going to remain a ~4 WAR player over the next 3 years. That’s worth about $90-$100 million.
If he holds up as I expect him to, we will get essentially exactly what we paid for over 3 seasons.
If he falls off a cliff, you’re only stuck with him for 3 years instead of 6.
if he has a career year, then we get what we paid for (or only slightly overpaid) for just 1 season, and can still negotiate to bring him back after he opts out or recoup the draft pick it cost to sign him by letting him leave if there is a better option available.
I’d say it’s been a pretty solid off-season for Breslow and the Sox at this point.
Now to find a trade partner for Yoshida to complete it.
Something amiss here? $40mm AAV? That cannot be possible.
for 3 years why not. Better than 40 AAV over 6
Deferrals. And similar to others for veterans recently the extremely high AAV instead of a long term (Scherzer and Verlander a few years ago, Bauer)
Sigh. NPV is 30m AAV. Not 40m.
What a joke of a consolation move and the lazy shameless landing spot of a cheater back working under a fellow cheater.
Awesome, he’s not going to the Tigers, especially on this horrific contract!!!
I don’t see a 32 year old Bregman opting out after a year unless he has a monster year…
Oh what a night! That’s a lot of cash for 3 years, goodness!
The Yankees would’ve been paying $84M for him if they did this deal!
I’d still take Bregman tbh. He would have fit the Yankees clean cut look (not important lol) and would have shored up 3b for a few years.
It’s good to see an old franchise like the Red Sox make a big move. Great for them!
Congrats to the Red Sox. Great job on investing to make your team better
Big love that likely sets up another move.
Gotta say, I had him all but looking for property in Detroit. Is second base a possibility? That is one smoking lineup.
alonso was expecting 150mil, got essentially 30
bregman expecting 200+mil, got 120
boras is toast. finished. and before you even begin to say “what about soto?” juan soto doesnt need boras to get 765 mil$ he woulda gotten the biggest contract ever no matter who represented him. my 100 year old grandmother coulda gotten him 765 mil. time for boras to retire . its not 2000 anymore, he cant negotiate deals, he has no leverage, clueless old greedy washed up useless soulless shark.
He likely doesn’t negotiate deals, the 75 people working for him do. As for the $200M, that was reported to have been his desired amount over 6 years. The $120M is over 3 years, it’s to soon to pass judgment.
From the Crawford box and Altuve/Yordan in front, to the Monster and Jarren/Devers.
Smart man, and good riddance
Keep in mind joke stadium, so should help keep his numbers up. Same with Minute Maid though.
I would let Casas DH and let Yoshida sink or swim in LF
No way they pay Devers all that money to DH. Yoshida is gonna be an expensive bench piece but who cares, that’s baseball
Arenado gonna be a Cardinal in 2025…
Still angels left since Rendon just had hip surgery. Or maybe tigers can pry him away.
Angels are paying Rendon $38+ million to sit on the IL for what will be most of, if not all of the coming season plus another $5 million to Yoan Moncada to take his place. Doubtful they want to add Arenado’s $27 million and pay over $70 million for one position
If he turned down Houston – no way he goes to angels or tigers
The Tigers aren’t going to sign damaged goods. They already did that with Baez, Maeda & Cobb.
So Bregman and Judge now have the same AAV on their contracts….
I’ll take the Bregman contract ! And him over arenado too on that contract bc it saved prospect capital. Excellent signing by Boston
Judges contract will not age well
Makes sense. Two cheaters back together
Good decision by Bregman to go to Boston. It’ll be easier to hear the trash cans reflected off the green monster.
the people getting hung over the AAV are missing the point. If the sox did that over 5 years it’s be awful. 3 years isn’t bad
Gotta totally hate defferals.
Predicting aweful things for the economy is UNAMERICAN AND SHOULD BE BANNED FROM BASEBALL!!!+?×”-,×[=<=!!!!!
What?
For everyone complaining about the money: does it really matter? It’s not your money. And if the Sox spend less, are you under the impression ticket prices will drop? Lol. They might as well spend. It’s already expensive. If you weren’t already priced out, you ain’t gonna be now. If you’re not worried about affordability, why are you worried about how much they’re paying people?
I’m not complaining about the money, but I do think it’s a bad move for Boston. If I were a Red Sox fan, I would be complaining.
Then my comment wasn’t about you. But, curious, why do you think it’s a bad move?
@mang
Any fan who doesn’t “worry” about his team spending is a dumb fan. It impacts the construction of the team and its willingness to spend or not spend in other areas. Blithely saying, “It’s not your money” when revenue (i.e. fans interest) drives spending, NOT the wealth of an owner, just demonstrates how clueless some fans can be.
mang – Because the Red Sox have been super cheap the past 5 years, and therefore are unwilling/unable to absorb costly mistakes like other top revenue teams can.
When you stick to a tight budget, money wasted is money that cannot be spent on true needs.
They’ve been cheap by choice. If Henry wanted to pay he could. It’s Monopoly money to him
Spending around the luxury tax threshold every year (over $200M) is not cheap.
Wow. Woooowww. Love this. I had a feeling when Arenado to Boston rumors were coming up. They had to be close. A couple fun contracts today with Pivetta and can’t wait to see the weird details on this one
These short, high AAV contracts will still ruin many teams, just not for as long. Boston will be celebrating in 3 years when they’re finally able to get rid of the guy because he’s never opting out.
Luke – That’s 100% incorrect, he asked for an opt-out after this season for a reason. He intends to get the 6+ year contract he was seeking.
Reuniting the cheaters!
This feels like a good compromise for both sides. Bregman had already rejected two separate offers over a reduced annual salary so he gets his high annual AAV. Boston avoids a long term commitment to a player many believe is in decline.
FWIW, in 2024 Bregman had his highest hard hit rate and exit velocity since 2019. Fenway is certainly a hitter friendly environment and the opt outs should keep him motivated. There’s no reason his bat can’t bounce back if he starts hitting the ball in the air with more consistency again.
Devers has led the majors in errors at his position FOR THE LAST 7 CONSECUTIVE YEARS. Bregman is a Gold Glove 3rd baseman. Make Devers the DH that he has always been. Trade Yoshi, or just eat the $18 mil a year for the next 2 years. Casas is too valuable to trade. And Devers can just suck it up – if he knew how to catch and throw at the major league level, WE’D HAVE SEEN IT BY NOW.
Devers has better range than Casas, most of his errors come from wild throws across the diamond after a making great snag. I would rotate both between 1B/DH to maximize their durability equally. I also don’t give up on a healthy Yoshida with a chip on his shoulder, I fully believe that he could lead the team in avg/obp if treated better by Cora this season.
To Yoshida, being ‘treated better’ means playing the OF regularly.
Nothing in yoshida’s bat makes up for the loss of one of abreu/rafaela/Duran in the OF, particularly with Anthony knocking the door off its hinges
Nobody was offering him $30 mil a year… I know! Let’s give him $40 mil a year!!
Not my money, and not my team, but this sure seems foolish.
well one team offered him 156 million and another offered `120 so how foolish was it. getting hung up over the AAV is missing the forest for the trees,
Moon – Since the very minute when the article was first posted, it stated significant deferrals.
The Red Sox are paying close to $32M a year, not $40M a year.
Wow! Didn’t expect that at all. Definitely an overpay but he’s going to hit bombs there.
Man Detroit has to be happy that with that kinda money he went to Boston. Ask Javier Biaz.
remind me how many years did Baez sign for vs Bregman?
6 140 my best friend is a tigers fan and he just’s wants him off the team. He is kind of a pain and is holding them back.
well. Detroit allegedly had another Javier Baez “6 year with an opt out after year 2” contract on the table that was for the most dollars…
so…I’m glad he went to Boston.
if that was the contract Detroit had on the table, Detroit hasn’t learned their lesson from Javier Baez yet and are doomed to a continuous cycle of self inflicted wounds….and got lucky that he chose a higher AAV in Boston.
That’s one way to pretend like you didn’t just get shunned
@Big whiffa
What exactly is the pretense? I’m a fan of another team which often gets “shunned” by free agents and it doesn’t matter how good your team is, you’re not going to land them. Which, frankliy, is a godsend given how lousy free agents often turn out to be, and how overpaid practically all of them are in baseball terms. It’s not sour grapes for smart Tiger fans to be pleased that their front office was saved from making yet another stupid free agent decision.
The front office did make the decision thou. They made a decision to offer Bregman the type of money it was going to take to get him to sign and likely left the offer on the table for several weeks due to all the chattee about when will he sign ??
Then he leveraged that offer like so many teams leverage blue jays offer to get the team they want to play for to offer more money, again they cry, he’s not worth 40 mil a season.
So the only reason he’s not a tiger is bc he didn’t want to be a tiger. Then he leveraged their offer for more money, therefore shunning the tigers.
My team gets shunned too and as a fan, it’s better to just own it
YEP, sounds about right ✅️ and Dipoto shipped Suarez off to Arizona at 12.5M for FREE!!! He needs to be FIRED!!! There’s literally 15 real 3rd baseman in All of Baseball… SMH
Idk about fired. Clearly ownership drew a line on expenses. Has to be frustrating for Ms fans after all the hype the last couple seasons ! Now Houston is way down yet Ms did nothing to capitalize
Astro fan here glad he’s gone we will take the extra pick in the draft and we are glad we aren’t paying the crazy salary to keep him!
What a horrible signing. This s*cks. Breslow found a way to screw up this year and many years to come. What a dbag..
wow. I think it’s one of the best signings of the offseason. Bregman has elite D and was made for Fenway ! Plus a short term deal ! Huge win imo
Big – Hopefully he plays 3B, otherwise that elite D will be wasted.
Right ! We kno that so they def do ! He will be there.
Boston is the only team that can challenge the Fair Play Dodgers over the next couple seasons. I’ll be rooting for em !
Wow. I was just thinking today that Boston would be a perfect fit for him.
Should have spent bigger on SP. The offense has cheap studs on the way including two IF.
Snell, Burnes or Fried made more sense, especially if Bregman is blocking Campbell, the additional fWAR may not be much in comparison.
Lifelong Sox fan..
Bregman is a good player, not a great player..
The size of that contract is for a great player at his peak who also brings some sort of star power to a franchise..
Bregman is on the wrong side of thirty, probably slowly regressing, and most likely blocking a prospect or two Sox fans have patiently awaited as the Sox built up a farm system..
But now it seems they’ve scrapped their plan to sign this guy.
According to Petzold @ Freep, Bregman turned down 6 years/$170+M from Tigers.
they have learned nothing with seeing they made that offer.
it allegedly had an opt out after year 2…sound familiar?
Glad he signed elsewhere
Huge overpay.. I wouldn’t even consider the opt outs being used because he will never produce enough to justify that contract. Boris is a Magician!!
Cheater. Always will be.
Wow.
CHEATER! Disappointed in Boston for signing the fraud
I like this and more contracts should be structured like this. Pay higher AAV for the years you’re getting value. $40m / year seems a lot but I’d much rather this than 6 years /$200m and be paying $33m in 2031 for an over the hill 38 year old.
The Borases of the world push for the max AAV AND the max years…and the problem is enough guys get it that many others wait to get their bag too. Boston has been roundly mocked for drawing financial lines and sticking with them rather than joining the crazy contract pile, so they should be celebrated for helping bring back sense.
Guys who want to bet on themselves for higher year to year earnings can/should get that one shorter deals, and non-superstar guys who want security should have to sacrifice some AAV for the better total. Like you said, this is sensible for Bregman while still being fair to the team…good deal!
2nd biggest overpay of the offseason.
I am not a Red Sox fan, I would go so far as to say I am a Red Sox hater, but its really not that bad of a deal. Obviously he is overpaid these 3 years but you get none of the risk of the horrible years post age 33! Also I assume the deferrals will lower the AAV significantly, we have to see how it is structured, but I imagine as the details come out it will look better for the Sox.
Evidently, Detroit offered $170M over 6 years.
That’s a ton of bullets they just dodged and can add that to their Skubal extension (whose agent will continue to laugh off any offer they make).
I’d just be happy if they extend Greene and maybe even Meadows…
act like the Braves did with their good position players.
First off…Jung/Vierling have a really good chane to equal Bregman on offense…not on defense though. Which is okay since they don’t cost $40 freaking million!
Carp as well if he has another good year is someone to extend. I think he’ll hit 30 plus HRs easily if he stays healthy.
I am excited to see Malloy in spring training after his great playoffs. Hopefully Tork gets his act together too. Internal improvements from regulars will provide the extra offense they need.
Signing Bregman would have turned out worse than signing Bregman, methinks.
Agree on internal improvements, although Tork’s comments about not using ANY of the Tigers’ info technology to improve don’t inspire confidence that he’ll improve.
I think he needs to go. Stubborn. Hinch said today he’ll be watching video. Ship him out while he still has value.
WOW! Good for Bregman! 40 AAV with opt outs after every season?!? Desperate overpay by Boston. Houston, Chicago, Detroit dodged a bullet. He’s not that dude, not at that price for sure.
“What an overpay.” This does not matter. It’s 3 years (maybe). They can more than afford to overpay. That’s what big market teams do. A much needed signing to call this a good offseason for the Red Sox.
Speaking of the AL East is this hypothetical trade of mine a trade made in Heaven?
Luis Castillo for Vladdy Jr.
Why do the Jays need Castillo if they trade Vladdy? They will want several top prospects, you can keep Castillo.
No, it’s a trade proposed by somebody that doesn’t understand how baseball teams operate.
Contract wise: incredibly smart deal , wow.
Team wise: stupid choice , with the jays and Yankees getting better in the off season (and Orioles already better) he obviously doesn’t care about winning.
Red sox won’t finish higher than 4th. Hope he likes losing because aside from him and Devers , who else is going to hit for the team.
I hope opposing teams boo this piece of garage who obviously only cares about money.
How are the Jays better? They added Scherzer who is a wild card and Santander because nobody else would sign there. Boston added Crochet to a team that outperformed Toronto and now Bregman, despite the contract and lack of fit, makes them better. Baltimore lost Burnes and I guess Santander for Oneil is a push. 4th would be an injury plagued underperformance for Boston.
If santandar hits like how he did last season , Guerrero has another season and bichette hits again you have a solid 2-3-4 punch.
Their pitching staff and bullpen are top 8 in all of the majors.
They just need run support.
If they call up Martinez this season he could be that 4th thumper they need.
Definitely better than the rays and probably the Red Sox.
O neill hitting 31 was awesome!!! But he’s gone. Young guy replaced by an aging Bregman. Take either one of them off the team. The team is just average. You had 2 20+ hr hitters and a bunch of 15 & 13 hr hitters. All platoon players.
This team is average at best.
How also do I know ? Their record last year ..81-81. .500 .. which is par. Also known as average.
They didn’t do anything spectacular, they will be lucky to finish 3rd. But reasonably will finish 4th.
Yeah, the BJ’s are better. They were dead last in 24 and now have a shot at 4th in 25. A shot mind you, I still can’t see them passing the Rays in the standings. A lot of payroll for a very very mediocre team.
Let’s see here…
You’ve got the #2, #8, and #12 prospects in baseball sitting in AAA who have hit well in the minors.
You’ve got Casas who has power coming back from an oddball injury. You had a. 8.7war outfielder popping 20+ hr and hitting for average. In the other corner OF you’ve got another solid ofer hitting mid-teens in hrs and a solid obp.
Somehow I think they’ve got some guys besides Devers and bregman to hit for the team….
Sox continue to make big contracts when they make the least sense, there is no short or long term organizational management. Sign Story when not needed, see the waste that has been…then sign Bregman when not needed and do it again. They have a glut of positional players and spend big AAV to add to the logjam. Bergman is a decent player, just doesn’t fit in current organizational needs, especially at that price. Should have signed Scott, traded for Suarez, and rolled the dice with the youth movement.
Amazing. Everything you said was wrong.
Boston needed a reliable RH bat. It needed an extra reliable hitter to help steady things as the young guys break in. It needed a boost in infield defense. It needed flexibility, given the question marks at 2B and long term fates of Devers at 3B and Yoshida in general. Bregman gives ALL of that. The problem before he signed was that this PERFECT fit was a risk to sign for 5+ years, which was expected to be necessary to land him.
They got a guy who is exactly what they needed in the shorter term, with zero longer term commitment. Couldn’t be a better match of a move. That you don’t see that suggests that you’re the one with a lot to learn about organizational planning in MLB.
We will see, if he opts out after one year it might work out but signing a potentially 3 year deal at $40M a year and hoping the player opts out because you are giving yourself some insurance on possinle short term fit is not smart. If this works out, I’ll be man enough to admit it worked out. I’m guessing by your egotistical tone that you won’t be when the 3 year contract is less than a difference maker.
$40 mil per year for Bregman? I guess The Angels got a hell of deal with Rendon!!
What a ridiculously terrible contract for the Red Sox!
Oh look! The Red Sox deferred some of Bregman’s money. Guess there will be a lot of questions concerning the meaning of deferred money. The Red Sox are ruining baseball!
Agreed. It should not be allowed. Sets a terrible precedent.
Straw man. People don’t say the Dodgers are ruining baseball because they use deferrals; they say it because of the amount of and frequency of them. Not saying that’s correct, just that that is the argument. Also, objectively speaking, the Ohtani contract is an outright gift, and people don’t like true cases of the “rich getting richer”. With the Sasaki deal, the Dodgers just got the two most cost efficient gifts of the past half dozen seasons or so in baseball, and with them already one of the two financial juggernauts that bothers people for understandable reasons. Nothing for the Dodgers to apologize for, but it’s worlds different from this signing.
Cubs whiff again. Of course
Definitely not a whiff, likely a blessing.
Somebody say my name ??
No! No, no, no!
We didn’t want him. I don’t even like that guy. Drastic overpay. Should have gotten Arenado and let the kids play.
Do they already have a Yoshida taker? Is Devers pissed? I would be. Brining the enemy in at $10 more a year.
This is very disappointing.
You do realize that arenado has…. wait for it… THREE guaranteed years left on his deal?
And bregman is getting between 1-3 years depending if he opts out?
In other words, if anything, bregman does LESS to block any kids from being promoted?
Furthermore, bregman costs a draft pick, roughly recouped from pivetta’s QO comp. Arenado would COST prospects to acquire.
Yup. But Arenado isn’t a human piece of garbage and is more willing to move positions.
Ah, the good old disinformation train. Chump, it has been made quite clear that Bregman is just as willing to shift positions as Arenado, and unlike Arenado who is a natural 3B and one of the best gloves ever there (so moving him would be a crying shame) Bregman is a natural SS.
Chump? Beyotch, watch your language.
It’s ok to hate a guy and prefer someone else, bro.
Oh snap
Incoming 260/330/420 season
Wow, Cub “fans” thought he was a lock. Smart move for Bregman.
Horrible overpay for a Boras client. Why do teams keep doing this? If anything it should have been team options and not player options.
Nobody of this profile gets team options. Boston could have demanded that, then not gotten the player, and then what? Dude, they wanted to be sure to not be locked into him for too long, and got the 3 year max…if he leaves after 1 or 2 years, that’s fine by Boston!
$40M a year for Bregman is absurd lol. Massive overpay.
Detroit could have used Bregman, but probably for the best he didn’t sign 6 years. If Vierling and Jung don’t work out, they should call the Rockies about Ryan McMahon.
Big signing. It’s weird that a player of this quality has sit on the market this long. But when you dive I to the stats, while valuable, he hasn’t put up the same stats since the report came out in 2020. Neither has any player after leaving Houston. Quite possible it’s a coincidence but that’s what the stats say
It’s not weird that he lingered on the market. Like the Boras guys who lingered last offseason, these are folks who should take full AAV for shorter deals or full length deals with some sacrifice to AAV, but Boras holds out for BOTH full AAV and length. Once they finally give in to reality, the deals tend to come quickly, as these players are very desirable at fair asking price.
Loving the signing by Boston. Their fans love the scrappy small guy and Bregman fits right in.
He should have taken the Astros 156 they said….
Houston we have a problem
They said Alonso was bad at 30 for 1, Bregman 40 for 3?
If teams are trending this way, is it really bad or the new normal when they don’t want to make a longer commitment?
Cubs offered him the same dollar amount but with a 4th year. Seems like the highest aav was his first priority
$40M per year for a player with declining numbers. Ouch! Seems like a desperation move here by Boston with the massive overpay.
Glad that is over. As a Cubs fan I was torn over this. But not mad as I really want to see Shaw get full run at 3B. Jed would be wise to sign Turner now. Solid depth piece
If it wasn’t for Soto Bregman could have gone right to the top of the most hated “ALL TIME” Yankee opponent list before even putting on the uniform. He’s already way up there on the current hated Yankee opponent list
Finally this is over. Play ball
Bregman the short porch hero lmao. He can’t hit in real ballprks!
Well he now calls fenway home so..guess he will remain a hero?
F+++++++++++++ One of the worst contracts ever handed out. Not close to the worst.
it’s for 3 years. Xander Bogarts contract is worse.
Yall going there – with Anthony Rendon out there with an entire website devoted to his thievery? It’s Rendon and it’s not even particularly close.
fair point
Not nearly as bad with so much deferred. D for deferred.
and your analysis was T for terrible
Good thing I don’t care about the opinion of someone who can’t even read.
it’s always funny when someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about doubles down on their stupid takes.
My record speaks for itself. I”ll wait for all the links of projections you were right and I was wrong on. I don’t expect to see many.
All you clowns do is reply with players with worse contracts even though I said “Not close to the worst.” “Not”
It’s really not close now. Actually a winning contract. The F was before the deferred $ was reported.
It was never close to being the worst contract to begin with even before the deferrals . and I also said your analysis was terrible. in fairness your analysis still is.
If you’re going to bash someone for not knowing how to read you better make sure your reading comprehension and reading period is up to par.
So that’s a no? You never been right? What I thought.
your record speaks with itself? that made laugh. I’ve this has been dumbed down as much as possible and you still don’t get it. for someone bashing someone for not being able to read you certainly are proving how underdeveloped you are at it
I have numerous examples of not only out smarting the vast majority of other commenters but vast majority of teams. Numerous. Very impressive. You got absolutely nothing.
you have zero examples of anything and furthermore no one cares.
My outstanding record is well documented and archived on fantastic sites including this one. Don’t hate just because you never have anything insightful to contribute. You can easily improve with a little effort. Great examples of my recent achievements Santana Sale Xander Bart Hill pretty much anything most others including teams were wrong on I was right. Incredibly impressive.
Making a fake record that no one cars and puffing your chest out about it in MLB trade rumors chat is one of the saddest flexes I’ve every seen.
*Making up a fake record that no one cares about and puffing your chest out about it rather…
It’s not fake. Anyone can go see how Incredibly well I have done. What else should I flex on? Better ? Could flex on? My handsome good looks? That’s a opinion. Would anyone believe someone when they said that’s me. No photo shop or catfish? Would you even admit how hot I am?
Being the greatest baseball mind in the universe is undeniable. You can just go to the comments section and see my date stamped post. But you say fake record lol.
Atlanta should come in and help them get out of that Yoshida contract with how bad they fleeced them on Sale. And the funniest part is if they did help and take Yoshida he would immediately turn into an all star player.
Very happy for all us Boston fans! Good signing n should be a fun yr!
Uh oh!!!! There’s deferred money! Everybody put your cryin’ pants on and let’s all have a good cry and talk about how baseball is ruined.
This guy should do very well in fenway..be interesting to see if he plays 2b or 3b
Is this an overpay? probably, is craig breslow changing his X handle to “BigBalls 2” you bet your ass he is lol now go win something! Go sox
This was all cora and Kennedy. Breslow didn’t want him and I don’t blame him. It’s a poor allocation of resources considering the young, cheap guys ready to fight for a spot. That money would have been better spent on an actual ace not on another cheater.
Couldnt disagree more none of those young guys have proven anything and this team has 3x that money to spend so the money is immaterial im just glad they usedvsome and as far as cheating in sports goes grow up teams and players have been doing whatever it takes to win since the adam challenged eve to arm wrestle ..futher the only actual ace available was burnes and he signed in arizona for family reasons so they traded for one they think is am ace..finally if breslow wasnt on board it would not have happened bres is not a yes man stooge
We’ll have to wait and see how much is deferred. But at least the Red Sox didn’t tie themselves to a ridiculously long-term contract for a clearly declining player. Not accounting for deferrals Bregman will make as much as Aaron Judge, who has accumulated just a few more WAR than Alex over the past few seasons. But the big financial hit won’t last for too long.
And if Bregman has a big 2025 season, the financial hot might only last for one year. If he continues to decline – much more likely for the 31-year-old – the hit will only last for two more seasons max.
Thank you John Henry.We needed a right handed bat to be World Series contenders.A New York fan who wants nothing better than to win the AL East over the Yankees.Win the World Series.Would be 5 in my lifetime.
Opt-outs after each year. No thanks. Zero ability to trade him at the deadline. No leverage for Boston. Any injury or poor performance, player is fully protected and Boston does nothing but pay him. Huge AAV. Teams have to be smarter than this. Stop the insanity.
My guess is that this is heavily deferred—enough to bring the current day value to 30MM or less. We’ll see though.
It’s really a shame that the Nats did not pursue a decent veteran player and team leader such as Bregman. It’s not like fretting about blocking House, who is still such an open question as a prospect, should be a driving concern.
Thank you bregman for not taking the tigers deal absolute overpayment holy cow not worth it thank you Boston thank you for saving us we will get the same production out of our rookie jace Jung for a fraction or I wouldn’t mind them trading for Nolan arenado now that Boston didn’t do it way better off paying for him and letting our prospects get experience to take over after arenados deal is up in 2 years I believe
Arenado also has 3 years remaining on his deal.
40m/yr for a 4war infielder with a checkered history.. Massive overpay.
I had hopes the Tigers could offer Skubal that much and sign him. Now that’s impossible. It’s a insane amount of money for him. The Tigers keeping Torkelson looks better all the time. Boras is the man.
Unless he has a massive spring Tork is going to be in AAA. He’s a platoon player against lefthanders at best right now until he shows something.
McCosky paints him as a changed hitter in article yesterday, but I’m not sure he is, going by Tork’s comments.
First of all, he seems honest with himself:
“I haven’t shown that I can play consistently and there’s people who have decisions to make, important decisions. And I haven’t given them a real solid belief in trusting (me) to this point.”
Then he says:
““It is what it is. I’ve worked my ass off every single day to prove that I am consistent in this game.””
“Mechanics are mechanics and there’s definitely things to clean up,” he said. “But what got me here is the ability to hit. The natural, God-given ability to hit. That’s what I’m going to lean on. That’s what I’ve tried to lean on all offseason.”
Hmmm. So, if there are things to clean up, will he take advantage of “brand-new, climate-controlled batting cage with all the bells and whistles. He could have his swing mechanics analyzed both bio-mechanically and metrically and get every kind of reading he’d want,” McCloskey writes.
“That’s not me,” (Tork) said. “That’s not the way I roll. I’m pretty old-school in the fact that, you know, ‘That felt good. The ball flight looked good. That must’ve worked.’”
Isn’t that the same mindset he’s had all along? “I’ll just keep swinging the bat until it feels good?” No adjustments, just waiting for the “feel?”
Ugggh. So stubborn. He just sounds arrogant and uncoachable. Ship him to Pittsburgh for Hayes. Horwitz is out and can play other positions. A change of scenery trade.
Love it. 1. I ‘m willing to bet that the AAV will be closer to 3oMM than 40 per yr w/the deferral — while the Sox get the benefit of the 40 MM PR to sell tickets and the incentive for Alex to have a monster yr so he can opt out and get the long term he wants. 2. All the prospects have options and big incentives to crush it at AAA thus increasing their trade values and giving the Sox another yr to assess who to keep and who to trade. 3. Gives Yoshida a chance to have AB’s and increase his trade value — in the past he has been able to to hit over .300 w an OBP close to .400 for a couple of months when healthy and rested at DH. 4. Devers will feel pushed to improve his “D” so that he is not moved to DH. 5. Sox get this yr to assess whether Casas needs to be extended rather than traded. All positives for the Sox while giving them a team that could compete if things go well and with the deferred $$$ still stay under the Lux Tax number.
Jmi, unless Bregman deferred more than 80% of his salary to 2034, it can’t be $30 million AAV.
You do realize that slug Yoshi just had surgery to the shoulder of his throwing arm in November and won’t be able to start the season on time don’t you? He may never be even as good as the well below average player we have seen the past 2 seasons. Most players never fully recover from that surgery until 2-3 seasons later.
If the Red Sox are so stupid that they play Devers at 3B after paying Bregman $40 million per year I will root for the Yankees until Henry and Cora are gone. Well, maybe not the Yankees. That’s a bridge too far. The Mets.
What in the actual FFFF could anyone be thinking to even suggest moving the better 3B, that you just paid $40 million per year to, off the position? If the Red Sox had not signed anyone and brought up a rookie they would still win more games with Devers at DH than at 3B. Move Devers the freaking lead glove statue to DH where he belongs.
Congrats to Bregman. Go Red Sox.
Have a Snickers. Boston right now has guys set for DH and 1B with Devers at 3B and a competition at 2B. Bregman allows them to let the rest work out naturally (rather than forcing a decision and maybe a bad move to get rid of someone right now) and then once 1B or DH opens Devers can shift over and Bregman would slide right back to 3B.
Like I posted last night. I love this move at 30MM AAV.
The Red Sox taking the viper into their nest to join up again with the architect of the cheating scandal Cora is just what I expected from the struggling franchise, How did a once respected rival fall so far?!
I’ll be turning up the volume on my TV and listening for any banging at Fenway
Lol you sound so bitter i wasnt a bregman fan previuously but the fact this bothers a yankee fan so much makes me want to go buy his jersey lol
bothered???, on the contrary, I love it.
I was fearful the Yankees were going to cave and sign this puss.
Add to it $40 million they are paying for this has-been and it is a great day for Yankee fans.
Sure whatever you say lol
it is what I said, what dont you get?
I get to boo this cheater twice as much, while Red Sox fans have to sit on their hands or worse root for a guy they hate.
A guy who cheated them during the 2017 post season defeat.
I have U2 lyrics in my head, “It’s a beautiful day”
You’re all wound up. Take a few deep breaths.
I dont know why you would think that.
I did not want him on the Yankees and I believed Cashman would cave in and sign him.
Of all the teams to sign him, that it is the Red Sox it’s a great day, I enjoy bantering with Red Sox fans, they are good fans, but this going to be fun trolling them with this move.
They hate Bregman as much as Yankee fans.
Lol do you realize that song is about a man who has lost everything ?
Im a red sox fan and dont hate him..course my team beat the trash can stros on way to a title yours didnt..perhaps thats the difference
who listens to the lyrics.
How what a wonder world by Louis Armstrong.
you forgot 2017 and the Banging cans already.
Sure did , a title in 2018 erases memory well.
Oh so he didn’t get the loudest boos at Fenway, could have fooled me.
Of course now you have like him or at least tolerate him, but if he stumbles out of the gate at 40 mil AAV, oh man Fenway fans are sure going to show the love…..hehehe
.
Gives you something to hope for i guess. Sounds like the potential failure of bregman and anticipated reaction of another teams fans gives you alot of pleasure…its interesting to see how much space something that happened 7 years ago when bregman was still in his first full mlb season btw takes up rent free in your head.im sure there is a clinical term for this but seriously i hope it all works out for you…good luck with that
well obviously my sentiments upset you or you wouldn’t have bothered to respond.
Considering the posts I have read so far on Red Sox boards, you are in the minority when it comes to not hating this guy prior to being a Red Sox.
But look I get it, you have to sound like an Astro fan now trying to justify the deal. Considering you have Cora too. you may need their experience at what they do best to get the Red Sox back in the race.
A .260 hitter that hits 25 homeruns a season for $40 per…..Manford asleep at the wheel.
Bregman had a 4.1 war last year.that puts him second highest on the team behind duran who received mvp votes and hes been a consistent 4+ war player throughout his career
Pool – I hope he plays 3B, because if he has to learn 2B that WAR will come down. It was 4.1 mainly because he was a GG fielder at his position.
No way is he worth forty million a year!
Jed Hoyer was smart not signing Bregman!
Prudent, yes. But the Bellinger trade looks very dumb now.
He’s probably going to have a very strong first season, then opt out, and Boston will have a present-value reasonable signing. If there’s only $80M to go, he can top that after 2025. Trading Pivetta for Bregman, if you look at the dollars, is a decent move for Boston. The risk to the red Sox is if he continues to see his walk rate decline as a natural part of his aging and then they end up with the entire mediocre sandwich for three years.
There is a strong possibility Boston will regret this signing.
There is, of course, that risk. From a health standpoint I think that it’s a fairly good bet. Bregman really takes very good care of himself, he’s very professional in that regard. I don’t see him aging well though despite his commitment to physical fitness. There’s been a lot of wear and tear and he’s already starting to show signs of decline. Three years should be OK. I don’t know what planet $40 million a year for a pretty good player is ever logical, but whatever – their money
and in Florida, Alex Cora is banging his trash can in approval.
The Red Sox’s “exciting” (hardly the word I’d use- “underwhelming” is more like it, though versus prior off seasons of late, I suppose any move would be deemed “exciting”, as the article describes the Sox’s winter) off-season continues.
playing Bregman at 2b is risky, but the real issue in all of this is that the Sox stupidly overpaid for Devers to appease the base after the Mookie trade, (then stupidly overpaid for Trevor Story as a knee jerk move).
Devers holds the cards in all of this because of his bloated salary. Yes, he should only be a DH, or learn 1b as a platoon, but his salary means the team can’t force him to make the move. so, here we are.
Maybe Bregman can get his hits off the Monster and even help Devers learn how to play the hot corner. If so, then perhaps the signing won’t be a terrible one.
It’s essentially the same park. Jeff Bagwell who of course was a former Red Sox farmhand, and fan from childhood, influenced the design of the current Astro park. It will definitely help him keep his numbers better than any other park would’ve.
This is the first MASSIVE contract with DEFERRED MONEY that didn’t get a bunch of deferral jokes or just outright crying. Interesting……
Well for starters, the amount of deferred $ has not been disclosed. Beyond that, it’s high AAV – but only a 3 year deal. Not really Dodger levels of deferrals in there.
I am not posting any jokes until around 2029.
Now that was a good one!
I thought signing Bregman was the joke…
I defer you to the Dodgers for comment…
people only get worked up and upset if it’s the Dodgers. otherwise… meh who cares. My favorite team did it? Oh great that’s a smart way to design a contract. Dodgers do it? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh baseball is ruined! I’m going to throw away all of my mlb gear and burn my trailer home to the ground!
Well all the fair weather pinks hats ought to be happy now. I for one was really looking forward to seeing Grissom or Campbell at 2nd. for the Sox to be a contender Yoshida needs to go, Devers needs to become the seconding coming of big Papi, and one of their lefthanded hitting outfielders needs to be traded. But they’ll probably trade Casas for some broken down pitcher and we can then enjoy watching him pound out 45 homers, 1oo RBIs, and hit .300 for some other team. Remember Jeff Bagwell.
I don’t remember YAZ wearing batting gloves.
Don’t love the opt out after year 1, but good job! This is a player they desperately needed.
when you say that Bregman is a player they desperately needed…well…the operative word being desperate. They signed a player who is a 3B, exclusively. Then does this mean they trade Casas? Do they put the ever-expanding Devers at 1B? The Sawx have more holes than a Cardi B show.
Read the article. Bregman is going to play second base. Additionally, he has spent some time at shortstop in his career.
Did read it. They have lots of players playing out of position. Could have just paid Betts. Another lonnnnng summer in Bahston. LOL!!!
Oh gotcha, I understand what you mean now
Great. The Gunnar price has just skyrocketed. If this dope is getting 40 mil per, no telling what Henderson is worth.
Bregman will fit in perfectly in Boston. A seem-less fit. He is red sox fan very fav colour too
lol
New cheating scandal in 3…2…1…
This only makes sense if they move Devers to DH and trade Yoshida. Stupid overpay by Boston.
Boston was always the most logical destination. $40 million a year is not logical. We’re talking about a guy that might be in the top 100 players. Good for him, glad it wasn’t the Astros
It’s an overpayment for a shorter term. It reminds me a little of the contracts Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli contracts back in 2013. Both were expected to sign longer deals but opted for similar money and less years with Boston. Both declined pretty quickly after that but not before helping deliver a WS title.
With the opts outs there’s the quiet hope from both sides that he does well and the market changes to a point where in a year or two someone will sign him to something similar or better than what the Tigers offered.
Loveeeee it
He must have really not wanted to play for the tigers cause financially speaking, it’s really tough to wrap my head around this deal. At his age, even if he has a great year and opts out, it sure seems like it will be tough for him to guarantee himself that extra 50 mil that the tigers offered. Especially since Boston apparently deferred a good bit of their money. But I guess there is a chance Detroit was deferring some of theirs but all things equal, this is one of those deals that’s hard for me to understand
So the Red Sox could have had Betts for less money…
Betts was willing to take a guarantee under $120 million? I didn’t think so either.
Betts would not even talk extension with the Sox. He was never staying at any price.
dank – He meant lower AAV, which Mookie definitely has.
not sure if you’re aware but 365M is more than 120M.
Shh. Don’t tell anyone.
Bottom line, he didn’t want to play in Detroit. His choice mind you, but a mistake IMO.
I think it’s comical that there are opt outs. There is absolutely no way he will opt out of $40mil per. Bregman is not capable out performing that.
I think it goes without saying, massive overpay
IMO I thought he was definitely going back to Houston however much like Soto at the end of the day it was all about the money. I still don’t know why Boston didn’t want Alonso and keep Devers at third base.
Bos didn’t want alonso because he does nothing at all for them. Casas healthy is the equal or better performer than alonso as he ages, with both youth and vastly cheaper contract on triston’s side.
Bos needs 3B/2B stability. There’s a string if guys who could 1B.
I agree with most of your comments, but i think they would be just fine with Grissom or Campbell at 2nd. This constant talk about moving Devers to first is stupid, he’s destine to be a DH which isn’t a bad thing, christ look at what the paid Big Papi to DH and he’s a HOFer..
Definitely an over pay… as was what they gave to Devers following the Bogaerts disaster. But necessary if you’re trying to send a signal.
As for not opting out, I wouldn’t be too sure. If he has a good year this year or next then don’t be surprised if he goes off seeking a longer deal to end his career on even if the average is in the range of 20 on up. It’s a good deal for him. He basically has three one year deals of $40M. After year one he basically decides if he can beat 2/80. After year two it’s 1/40.
Let’s go out on a limb here and say that the excitement of being in Boston helps Bregman turn the clock back a little bit. He hits .275, 28 dingers, and gets his on-base percentage back up to .375 – does he get a free agent deal for over $40 million?
If I were a betting man, which I’m not (at least not monetarily) I would say .260, 23 homers, .350 OBP is optimistic/realistic. Of course crazy things happen in this crazy world of sports, but it’s hard for me to imagine anybody spending over 40 million for that. But then….
Absolutely true. Like I said, I’m not a betting man, but if I were I would take the odds that he won’t be.
What an overpay, glad the cubs didn’t get him
The Tigers dodged a bullet on this one.
Yep. Agree. He may have been ok for the 1st 2 years, but it’s the four ensuing ones that worried me. We already have one payroll albatross. (Praying for Javy’s miraculous transformation after hip surgery).
Bregman also fits better in Fenway than Comerica — or Wrigley for that matter.
On the fun side, more Tigers 3B intrigue. I get the feeling Harris might have preferred orchestrating a trade anyway. He has some pieces he can move. Could he be targeting someone’s younger 3B with upside?
I would have rather have Campbell out there.
Amen brother. Knowing my Sox they trade him away.
I’ve been critical of the Red Sox so far. I thought their biggest issues weren’t dealt with. Sure they revamped the rotation but the shockingly the Red Sox rotation was above average last year and if Houck, Crawford, and Bello could pitch more innings then they could still be good. The issue was defense and the bullpen, especially now that the two better arms in Jansen and Martin are gone.
So yes, wild overpay by the Red Sox but they addressed infield defense and got the righty bat. If they can somehow move Devers to first or DH, all the better.
And if they move Devers to first do you actually think that the infield defense is improved? Instead of an E5, now your looking at an E3….duh…missing something here……how does Devers defense translate better at 1st where he needs more flexibility, and range fielding short hops and errant throws from the infield.
There’s a fairly substantial difference between fielding first than third. Among many reasons is the lack of needing to throw across the diamond. Many players have successfully gone from being lousy third basemen to decent first basemen. No one is saying he’ll be a gold-glover but there’ plenty of reasons to believe Devers would be less of a defensive liability at first than third.
Unless it’s in his contract, they could just tell him he’s moving. With Cosas at 1B though, Bregman at 2B (for now) makes sense
Oh I’m not saying it’s a perfect world. I think it’s crazy and crazier to pay him that kind of money, but there you have it
Glad it wasn’t the Cubs who made that deal. 40m and opts out after each year? The kids need to play, no reason to keep blocking them. Shaw is ready to go.
It would have been a bad deal for sure, but now they have to look in the mirror and ask if they are really a better team. Fiscally responsible- sure. But better?
The Red Sox are ruining baseball! They sign everyone and deferrals are just cheating.
I guess it’s a short contract but man, that’s a lot of money to pay for a declining player. I guess the Sox aren’t what they were a decade ago, though. ALE looks like a mess. Aside from the Yankees, everyone seems to be playing for 3rd place.
@Claydagoat
Agreed. All of them will be on the IL this season and not being productive.
Just a thought… if they really want to drop this contract after the first year, they can just sign Bauer to troll him into opting out
Wow, what an overpay of 0 mill per year for a 31 year old, .260 75 rbi guy …. You’d think the Red Sox had learned their lesson with overpaying thirty something year olds on the downside of their careers … ( David Price, etc.) But they did not. Yankees still the team to beat in the AL East, and it’s not even close ….
Ok buddy.
Bummed he signed with the RS. That division is going to be a beast.
You guys are talking about an overpay like somehow it’s this big negative thing. First off you have to overpay to get the guy you want to take less years. Less years is incentive to get another contract. Meaning he’s not going to just put it in cruise control and slack off. Second, the only real difference between a back loaded contract of 5/160 and a short term contract like 3/120 is that he’s not a liability at the end of the contract. Impossible to trade and on the books. Third, it’s not your money and the fans wanted a sign management was still invested in this franchise. They needed to do this.
That being said, would I have pulled the trigger on Bregman? Absolutely not. But that’s because I don’t think this team is a RH bat and an upgrade at defense away from contending. I would have dedicated this season to finding out what exactly we have with the young guys. Is Duran a perennial AS? Does Rafeala have an MLB quality bat? Is Anthony ready for the MLB? Was Campbells year a fluke? What exactly is Abreu? People discounting a ROY candidate and GG winners value seems so odd. Will Casas be able to stay healthy? Was the pitching a fluke last year? So many questions to answer before I would invest in a 30 year old 3B with declining statistics. It’s a win now move and I just don’t see it.
Almost all those questions will be answered whether we sign Bregman or not.
If they stick Yoshida on the bench, then yes.
Ridiculous contract…. multiple opt-outs. Zero leverage to trade at each Deadline. Way over-priced at $40M annually. Only thing they got right was limiting it to three years. Gets hurt, team on the hook for poor performance or no performance at all. Going to put him at 2B!!!, what a joke! Stop moving playing around the in-field, already proven this does not work. Excellent 2B and infield prospect in the minors, now blocked.
I’m so glad that the Angels didn’t do this deal… I was worried… It’s something that Arte has done in the past. Signing players to big deals later in their careers hasn’t faired well for the Angels. Maybe Boston will fair better. I hope that it works out well for Boston because it really stings when it doesn’t. For Astros fans, apparently 156 million wasn’t enough to buy loyalty (a player can’t get by on that salary as we all know), and it wasn’t enough to stay and play with your friends. Welp, let’s see if it’s enough to push the team into the World Series.
And just like that Jed Hoyer is out of a job if he doesn’t get a Kyle Tucker deal done. Noisy offseason, but are the Cubs truly better than last year?
A lot better as a team, but they gave up a decent amount of talent for Tucker. A good upgrade at closer, and Boyd/Brown should be a good upgrade over Hendriks. 88-90 wins.
Honestly makes zero sense to me.
31 years old and it’s middle of Feb before he signed. he had higher offers on the table. if he stays all 3 years he will be 34 and won’t be able to command as much money. if he leaves after either of the first 2 years he will be that much older and will have that much less leverage. but hey it’s his life. just makes no sense to me
It kind of makes sense that Bregman took the deal, on the other hand it really makes the Red Sox look like they’re idiots. Bregman is a decent player, only in the Red Sox world is he a $40 million player
Yikes. Best of luck in Boston. Glad Detroit didn’t get saddled with that.
Arenado gets traded before Monday.
The Sox convinced Bregman that they were committed to building a championship waste management organization, err ball club
Yikes. Big money for Bregman. Thankfully he doesn’t get to terrorise the Rangers anymore.
The Red Sox drafted him out of HS, but he decided to honor his commitment to LSU
I see another trade coming…. I am guessing it will be Abreu, Rafaela or even Duran after the 2025 season. Also, Mayer will be playing SS at some point this year
KD17: you keep siting roto wire like it’s a reputable source for prospect ranking and evaluation which it isn’t It’s a fantasy site.. The only reason you do so is because they are the one obscure website agrees with your Mayer evaluation.
Citing*
Well that is just flat out not true. His health has been a disappointment, yes. His play has been solid. He passes every eye test to be on track to be an every day starter at the MLB level with continued progression. His talent stands out on every field he has ever been on. Other prospects progressing faster is not an indication that Mayer is destined to be a bust or that those other prospects are going to have better MLB careers because they’ve had more success at 21-22 years old, I am all about analytics but the eye test is not to be dismissed. The only thing Mayer has failed at is staying healthy.
KD17: you’re literally poo poo every other expert analysis on Mayer in favor of Roto wire which is a fantasy baseball site primarily and you know that’s what I mean. IT’s literally the only site that agrees with you which is why you keep banging that drum. You can keep banging that drum but you and they are still the outlier
KD 17: Rotowire is still a fantasy baseball site primarily and I’ve said a time and again simply because they agree with your opinion doesn’t them right. Bucking the consensus doesn’t make you or them right
It’s no secret I like to watch minor league games I think it’s really hard to judge a player unless you get eyes on him. That being said predicting prospects is pretty difficult a lot of them do flame out there are so many factors in play. I have certainly missed on some of my calls as have you KD. Yes I missed on Jeter Downs to this day I don’t know what happened but you were right on Jeter Downs. You were wrong on Michael Chavis you wanted Boston to put him at third and why didn’t he get a fair shake. On that one I correctly noticed he simply didn’t have the bat speed to hit a fastball especially one up in the zone he’s already out of the big leagues. The point is if you try and predict young players you are going to be wrong everyone including you and including me get it wrong sometimes.
Here’s the thing though predicting prospect outcomes is becoming more a science then an art. If we look at Marcelo Mayer we see a guy who hits the ball hard, nearly as hard as Roman Anthony and that’s saying something. He also is a guy you can’t get a fastball by he has elite bat speed but he has real trouble picking spin and swings over the top of a lot of braking pitches. His hit tool is in question because of that and that is a concern. Am I going to go out on a limb and say he’s going to be a quality big league infielder yes I think he is. I think he has 30 home run power as he matures but he might also be .250 hitter. He has smooth actions at short his footwork is good his arm is superior for the left side of the infield he has good instincts for the position he has had a few too many errors to this point but if you watch him he has the actions to be a big league shortstop. This isn’t a Devers situation who simply can’t field Mayer can and I expect either at short or third if he grows out of the shortstop position he’s going to be a quality big leaguer. Let’s see who ends up being right on this one KD.
Kristian Campbell is a fantastic 2nd base prospect. I say 2nd base prospect because despite being a very good athlete he simply doesn’t make enough plays at shortstop. He may not make a lot of errors but he has poor footwork and his arm is too weak for the left side of the infield. I noticed watching him an alarming number of plays that a big league shortstop makes an out on become hits when Campbell was at shortstop. I was wondering if there was a stat to back it up and then I found it baseball reference has range factor. It’s essentially putouts and assists/games played. League average is somewhere north of 3.5 per game so why is this important no big league or big league caliber shortstop is below 3 per game while Campbell is 2.7 in that stat. I promise you that is more important than the number of errors a guy makes. He’s essentially giving up 1 more hit per game than a true shortstop. This is why he isn’t really considered a viable shortstop candidate at least to this point. Now KD I will give you this he’s a good athlete and he will be around a very good defensive shortstop in Trevor Story so maybe his footwork can improve, maybe his internal clock can improve but his arm is always going to be suspect for the left side of the infield. This stuff will need to be watched closely in spring training and I really hope he improves but right now he’s not a shortstop and if he doesn’t improve he’s not a viable big league shortstop.
KD, to summarize I think Mayer will be a big leaguer and you think he’s going to be a dfa bust like Jeter Downs and I think it’s unlikely Campbell at this point is a viable big league shortstop and you do let’s see who’s right.
Do you work for ROTOWIRE? Because you are trying to justify ONE source of data to prove many experts who actually do this for a living wrong. Congrats on getting Jeter Downs correct. Hard to know when a player with projectable MLB tools would become a head case.
look at kris bryant, longoria, rendon, eric chavez, kyle seager, or any recent stud 3b after 30 and their numbers are pretty dire, nothing i’d want to pay 40m a season for. i know sox fans are happy about this, but i don’t get it. hopefully i’m wrong.
Way OVERPAY! He made out but Boras is running out of influence.
Trevor Story provides an interesting comp.
Story was 29 years, five months and 11 days old in March 2022 when the Red Sox signed the two-time All Star infielder to a six-year, $140 million contract.
Alex Bregman is 30 years, 10 months and 20 days old as the Red Sox are expected to sign the two-time All Star infielder to a three-year, $120 million contract.
At the time of his signing, Story had posted 26.8 bWAR in 745 MLB games while Bregman has posted 39.6 bWAR in 1,111 games. Per 100 games Story had posted 3.597 bWAR and Bregman 3.537 bWAR.
Regardless, the Red Sox lineup is stronger this morning than it was yesterday morning.
Story is no comp. There were concerns how much his production had been the creation of Coors (he has poor plate discipline, which gets bailed out in thin air due to breaking balls moving less), and his issue since has been injuries. Bregman is a much more established and higher floor guy. I’m worried about where decline might leave him in 2028 and beyond, but that won’t be a concern for Boston.
If Detroit actually put forth a six-year, $171.5MM offer, and he turned that down, then Boras was playing them the whole time and he was never going to sign with them. That is exactly what he wanted, and in the long run, potentially the best deal by far.
If Olney is actually right about the deferrals, why didn’t Bregman just take the Cubs offer at $30 million for four years? More guaranteed money. Oh well, that whole mess didn’t make much sense. Maybe he just fell in love with the wall at Fenway.
Because he sees Boston (especially Fenway) as the better fit, and probably anticipates a rebound season that would set him up to opt out and get the deal he wanted next offseason.
It doesn’t sound right. You have to defer a ton of money to get from $40M to $30M,
And $30M sounds too cheap for someone like Bregman.
Look at Otan. &; Soto numbers . Bregman has been making $$$ and it was more important to say “40MM a yr” than get it, if he opts out. Its all “Pub” as a certain Oklahoma QB once said.
This is flat out stupid!!!
Honestly a bad decision on Bergman’s side if the tigers really offered $173 mil. He’s not making that back if he opts out or completes this contract.
You either gotta trade Casas for prospects or see if you can deal Yoshida plus cash for Montgomery and stick him in the pen or something.
Also have to make room for Roman Anthony
Assuming he plays his tail off and stays healthy, Breggy could indeed still score that $200 million over a 6-year span that he was holding out for.
No way! $80M starting his age 35 season? He is already a .260 and 25 homer guy. He will be fighting for a position at that point.
Have to laugh at the percentage of comments in this section that now look clownish, with the news that the deferrals lower the true AAV of this contract to about $30M. Whoops!
Yup this makes it a great signing by Breslow. Besides his slow start to last year he hit to around an .840 ops with the only real glaring issue a preceptive decrease in walk percentage. Great signing good job Breslow.
“.840 ops in the second half”
My biggest concern was that the sox would be tied into bregman long term. even if they didn’t defer anything since the sox didn’t do that I don’t have much to object about.
Long – The sad thing is, the above article ALWAYS mentioned the deferrals and even though it now states $30M AAV people are STILL posting new comments complaining about $120M.
Just further proof people comment without actually reading the article, all they see is the headline.
A shame that facts are getting in the way of people’s desire to complain about everything
A shame that facts are getting in the way of people’s desire to complain about everything
==========================
If there is one thing to know about RS fans, is that they NEVER allow facts to interfere with their complaining.
It’s why I recommend that people don’t judge deals until they know what’s in them.
Was wondering why the jays were out… $40 mill for a guy who OPSs in the mod .700s… are they smoking crack? Lol
Benny – It’s only $30M AAV.
Why is everyone acting like they gave the guy $40 mil a year deal for the next decade… It’s 30 mil on the books and he only needs to perform slightly better than his 4.1 WAR + GG output last year to confidently test FA again next offseason.
HIgh – Breslow did a great job of waiting him out, just like Dombrowski did with JDM.
But even though I’m not one of the people who have been demanding Devers gets moved immediately, I can’t for the life of me picture Bregman moving to 2B. In doing so both his defense and offense would be negatively impacted, which he probably doesn’t want considering he plans to use this season for a much bigger contract next offseason.
I really wonder if Bregman insisted he would sign with the Sox only if he could play 3B. I really think Devers needs to move now, and I hope he does.
I am so glad Jed didn’t get him. Honestly Fenway is a good park for Bregman, he can have a great year there and maybe go back on the market. Had him going back to the Astros but if he opts out, who knows maybe a reunion is still in the cards. I think he’ll be good for the Red Sox so congrats to getting him!
What an insane overpay
The Red Sox are fools
Mike – $30M AAV is reasonable if true, it’s less than what he got paid each of the last two seasons.
And with any luck, he will opt out after this season.
@Fever – Yup if he has a 5+ WAR season and opts out then it’s basically just a 1 year 30 mil deal on the books, with another $10 mil deferred off the books – so zero concern to our payroll. Everybody wins and one of the kids takes his spot in 2026.
I will stick with my opinion
Well I guess all the cheaters finally found new homes amazing what a different uniform can do
Bregman is the Sox cheat code.
Just a thought…but I wonder if Bregman didn’t want to go to the Tigers because of Hinch. Maybe there’s some hard feelings from their trashcan banging days together in Houston…
Red Sox manager Alex Cora was a coach on Hinch’s Astros in 2017…the year they’re accused of cheating. Which is why Cora was suspended in 2020.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Bregman may have chosen the Red Sox because of this per Peter Abraham @peteabeglobe.bsky.social:
“Bregman’s late grandfather, Stan, was good friends with Ted Williams. He was general counsel for the Washington Senators and helped bring Williams to the team as manager in 1969.”
Yes, but hid OPS of 1.240 at Fenway in 21 games over his career might also have influenced his decision.
But, maybe that’s why he signed with the Red Sox after hearing the trash can echo on the green monster.
It is a blessing in disguise for Tiger fans. You have dodged a bullet.
Apparently that six year offer was from his wife to take out the trash.
I thought the CBT was based on the AAV regardless of deferred money? How is the $31.9m CBT calculated here?
His Net Present Day (NPV) value with be $31.9M after factoring in the deferred money. That’s the number CBT only considers. Same for Ohtani who will receive $70M but his NPV is $46M.
At first my thought was how do you NOT use Bregman and 3B. You have one of the worst fielding third basemen on the field but then I looked at their situation at 2B. They don’t have a good option their either and you certainly wouldn’t want to put Devers there. His fielding is challenged enough. It would only be bad to put him at a position he hasn’t fielded in his major league career.
Bregman at 2B is probably ideal but man, what a price tag. Bregman is going to make the same AAV as Aaron Judge.
Impossible. I was told only the Dodgers can do deferrals.
@SalaryCap – Same thought. Giving Bregman all that money and not playing him at a position where he won a Gold Glove. Doesn’t seem like a “team first” stance by Devers.
Judge moved to accommodate Juan Soto. Torres didn’t move to accommodate Chisholm,
but it was Torres walk year so can understand that thinking.
But Devers has security of a big contract. He should probably DH or play 1b. Play Bregman at 3b, open up 2b for Campbell/Grissom.
That’s the difference between having clubhouse leadership and not. Maybe Big Papi and Pedro can talk some sense into Devers. Guys like Judge, Mookie, Freeman, JRam, and Lindor would probably play catcher if asked to. Dever’s agent should not have commented publicly.
Yawn. 3rd place at best.
Yawn your analysis is lazy at best
NYY and BAL have better teams. Class dismissed.
O’s 100% do not have a better team, their pitching is ass. Their hitting is suspect aside from 3-4 established guys. I’ll take Rox over O’s any day coming from and NL fan.
Bal pitching got worse. Maybe you should have paid more attention in school.
You assume he went to school.
Fair point Joe
KD17: resorting to insults. The ceiling of the Red Sox is much higher now then it was to start the offseason. The O’s lost Burns which is a major hit.
I certainly didn’t like how much the Sox gave up for Crochet but you can’t argue that he’s not a massive upgrade.
What they do with the top
Prospects
Now
Do signing bonuses count differently against the luxury tax? Why $5million bonus plus $35 million salary instead of just $40 million?
He’s gets $5m up front to spend moving, buying a new house, whatever he wants, and pocket change through ST.
Regular salary checks aren’t paid out till each week of the season.
GaSox – Actually they get paid semi-monthly during the regular season, not weekly ;O)
I remember the good old days when direct deposit wasn’t a requirement. Manny would accumulate a stack of uncashed paychecks in his locker. Dude would receive phone calls from the office asking him to cash the checks before they become stale. Classic Manny being Manny!
Glad the the Yankees didn’t sign him! Yankees will trade for JRam, which is a much much better move!
Now it’s going to be difficult to tell if Bregman is any good offensively anymore because eminently catchable balls will now be banging off the Green Monster for singles and doubles. How he does on the road will be the best measure.
And what would be dingers in other parks will dent the wall and only become singles. with this guys I would wager that would happen a lot.
The numbers are what matters.
This deal also mean that they don’t have to rush guys to the majors…..Financial and development benefits, right?
Good point. Mayer has not played in AAA yet. Campbell has only 19 games there and Anthony 35 games there.
If Fenway gives Bregman a nice little boost to his offensive numbers this year, then I could see him opting out and seeking $150mm/5. Yes, the AAV is lower, but it would be a $70mm larger guarantee.
as a yankee fan i appreciate boston’s determination to achieve full-douchebaggery
Won’t ever reach pinstripe level, that is where the Yankees hold Evil Empire status forever.
thanks to the dodgers i get to root for a plucky underdog 😉
I wish my principal would offer me a $40 mill a year contract
I’m thinking Bregman plays SS. Story to the 60 day IL
I like the fact that he’s betting on himself. If it was just about money? He would have taken the extra $51 million from Detroit. Nope! I’ll take the $120 million w/ the opt outs. That’s the kind of player you want. One that believes in himself. Welcome to the Boston Red Sox Alex Bregman! It’s nice to have you. Thanks for choosing us. Hopefully it’s a perfect fit for both us.
Scott – It’s interesting how you mistake ego and greed for confidence.
He was projected to get around $182M, but due to his greed and ego he had to settle for around $94M (not the $120M that you falsely claim).
Let’s see how this plays out.
About time the Sox spent
Now I’ll spend to watch and go see.
I’m glad the Cubs are just cheap, and not stupid. Dodged a bullet this time.
Let’s be real. Beltran and Cora did not invent cheating. Altuve, Bregman, Marisnick are not brilliant cheaters either. It was just a group of MLB guys that had seen stuff aided by a clueless ownership and conniving corporate team that perfected cheating.
They won. They cheated other teams and players of Millions in dollars. Celebrate who they are and don’t forget they really don’t care about your opinion. Neither does MLB.
Couldn’t agree with you more. Every sport has now evolved into more of a business than a game. I don’t blame any of the players for grabbing every buck they can get , who doesn’t want the biggest paycheck they can get? Same thing with the owners, no one buys a business to lose money and everybody wants to make the biggest profit they can. I’m not saying everyone would do this but I know I would and I know they’re a lot of other people that would too, if I had to take Peds or taking unfair Advantage here and there to make millions of dollars rather than bring home a paycheck every week that I can’t even make ends meet I would do it in a heartbeat. These guys are all just like you and me they do what they have to do we’re the fools that think they’re Role Models or something special they’re not. They just happen to have the skill set to hit a ball with a bat or throw a ball into a basket. There’s no reason that after putting in some hard work on their part they shouldn’t accept the highest paying job offered.
People who complain about “overpay” make me laugh. There are a handful of teams in mlb that have incredible financial resources, the Red Sox are one. They can afford it and Bregman is a good player that makes them better. What would you rather have had them spend the money on, right now, at this point in the offseason?
I’m no Sox fan, but I’m glad to see their front office is trying to win and has a degree on competence.
Hank – At this point in the offseason money should be spent on extensions, if anything.
Tanner Scott or Kirby Yates would have been money well spent just a month ago.
From what I read in the Globe, Bregman is deferring $30 million per season until 2034 to bring the AAV down to $31.7 million.
In 2025 he is getting a $5 million signing bonus and $5 million in salary with $30 million deferred.
From what others are saying, it makes an opt out almost a certainty as long as Bregman equals 2024, which was a down year for him.
He will be looking to beat 6/180 after 2025.
Satisfies the demand to spend money, moves devers cuts into his value, and keeps the Sox largely irrelevant. Love to see it. Good job Houston
He will be looking to beat 6/180 after 2025.
=========================
If he didn’t get that this year, it is pretty unlikely he will get that when he is one year older.
Joe, hard to say how much the QO impacted his offers. The other thing I’m shooting from the hip on, and have *no clue* on the numbers, is if a team with massive cbt taxation (NYY? Others?) Will have money roll off the books where they wouldn’t pay 110% penalty on his contract tract expanding his suitors.
If those things come into play after 25, or 26, that could change things somewhat.
To me, that falls under the heading of “anything can happen”. He’s only getting paid $31.7M this year, so it is easy enough to imagine him getting $120M+/4 after this year is over. So I’d say it is better than 50/50 he opts out.
But he didn’t come anywhere close to $180M/6 this year. He’d need MVP-level numbers to get that at age 32.
I’d say it’s better than 50/50 with no draft pick compensation attached. Offensively, he can bounce back to all-star level and continue to play elite defense. See Matt Chapman. The Red Sox can also re-work his deal for a longer extension.
The Tigers did offer him 6/170 (probably with deferrals) so there’s that.
He won’t opt out. No one else is going to (or should) give him 6/180. I bet no one else was even close to what the Red Sox offered. Massive overpay. Terrible contract.
IMO, $92M/3 is a steal for 3.8 WAR player in this market. This feels like Beltre all over again.
40 million… hilarious.
Massive overpay, but I guess if you have 120 mil just sitting around, and don’t know what to do with it….
It’s $31.7M. It was literally in the first sentence of the article.
Deferred money bringing down the AAV does not mean it’s not still 40 million for a 4 WAR player on the wrong side of 30 but hey good luck to you.
It actually does mean exactly that. It means that the RS deposit $31.7M into an escrow account (one year subsequent, iirc) which would mean the $31.7 is probably even slightly less in real life.
I was never in favor of signing him. I’d have kept Devers at 3rd, and let Campbell, Grissom & Hamilton fight it out at 2nd.
But at this price, this is a pretty good deal.
Love all the huffing and puffing by the Sawx fans:)
So, let’s review:
1. Massive overpay to Devers who, along with Casas get my vote for the 2025 Alex Manoah award as most likely to eat their way out of MLB.
2. Massive overpay to Story who cannot stay on the field, was forced to play out of position and is now too old to contribute.
3. Their OF is a basket case. When you’re riding with Rob Refsnyder as your RF…
4. Signed Chapman as closer. He should be good for 2-3 saves for the season.
I’m afraid that Breslow fell into the same trap as Bloom. Do nothing and then cave to the chattering, pearl clutchers.
2025 Sawx in a race to the bottom of the AL.
And they cannot suck enough to suit me.
What a stupid ignorant post.
Says the Sawxx partisan. You may hurl all the strings of caustic invective you wish. But the 2025 Sawx are a Viking funeral.
Already.
Don’t forget trading the cy young winner for a 2b prospect with a ceiling of average and they even paid him!!!!!
he traded an oftenly injured pitcher for a 2b prospect
Appears you didn’t pay attention:
1) was an overpay, however, with salary inflation in mlb its gettingnless so every day.
2) story has had injury issues. But, he played GREAT 2B so being out of position wasn’t a bad thing.
3) Bos has one of the best OF lineups in the league not accounting for Roman anthony, aka #2 prospect in MLB.
4) Chapman is signed, but, he’s not the only guy in a fairly talented bullpen to close games. I think Whitlock return to the pen, and a certain guy who came outta Chicago has a little closing experience of his own that’s now healthy would differ whmith Chapman being annointed.
Gasox, I still think Breslow pulls off a trade for a closer. Padres you listening? What would it take to get Suarez?
Refsnysder isn’t the rightfielder you ridiculous casual. Go away.
Go away? Typical ignorant, peevish comment by a snooty, Subaru driving Sawx fan. Have a great summer with your club full of broken toys
Viveleempireevil
3. Their OF is a basket case. When you’re riding with Rob Refsnyder as your RF…
4. Signed Chapman as closer. He should be good for 2-3 saves for the season.
========================
C’mon man. You aren’t even pretending to know anything about baseball.
So Alex is easily that last player I wanted to see come to Boston.. never liked him, and I’m sure that will keep him awake at night… I have to go wayyyyyyy back to think of someone acquired by a team I like that irked me this way…. Ah Jimmy Johnson!!! That worked out ok…. Good luck Alex, would love to eat crow as you raise a WS championship trophy and a WS MVP….until then I reserve the right to keep the urge to wanna punch your face ( stepbrothers)
Trade of the Bs to Boston… Bregman for Brasier? Would that pique your interest olm?
Throw in two Ron Santo pizzas and a frosty malt ( wooden spoon included) and it’s a deal!!!!
Sox go from ughh to WS contender in 2 years. This Organization dont play
$20 million deferred for 10 years at 3.75% called for in the CBA doesn’t get the NPV to $31.7 million. Something is not adding up.
It is 4.43%.
2004 to 2024 4 World Championships
2025 to 2035 4 More World Championships
The Boston Redsox #Dynasty is here again…tick tock
Alex Bregman introductory press conference:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=e3l6eT6BFPI
Looks like devers has lingering shoulder issues bet he will dh at least to start
Cmon man. You wouldn’t have any fun at a comics’ convention. Your club is a shambolic mess. Enjoy!