Alex Bregman is headed to Boston on a three-year deal that comes with a massive $40MM average annual value (albeit with deferrals). The two-time All-Star was also known to have multiple six-year offers on the table, one of which was from the Astros.
The Tigers also proposed a six-year offer, as first reported by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. Petzold initially reported that Detroit’s offer was for narrowly above $170MM and included an opt-out clause after the second season. It had some amount of deferred money. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale specified it as a $171.5MM offer.
Detroit’s offer came with an approximate $28.58MM average annual value, before accounting for deferrals. Bregman obviously fared much better on an annual basis on the agreement with Boston. It seems as if Detroit offered the highest overall guarantee. The Astros had a six-year, $156MM offer on the table for most of the winter. While they reportedly bumped that towards the end of the process, they didn’t seem optimistic about getting a deal done.
Indeed, it doesn’t seem that Houston was even in the running by the end. Nightengale reports that the Cubs, Tigers and Red Sox were the finalists. As with Boston, Chicago only seemed interested on a short-term deal. However, they weren’t willing to match the Sox’s offer on an annual basis. Nightengale reports that the Cubs proposed a four-year, $120MM deal. According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, that would have included opt-outs after the second and third seasons.
The Tigers and Cubs would each have kept Bregman at his traditional third base position. They’re likely to turn the hot corner to young players with top prospect pedigree but little to no MLB experience (Jace Jung and Matt Shaw, respectively). Bregman is ticketed for second base work in Boston, where Rafael Devers will stick at the hot corner.
Boston can have him at that amount. No thanks.
F for Detroit for offering him that unless it wasn’t official then A for bidding him up.
Same for Cubs.
Houston D but then they never pulled it so F for just letting it hang around.
Yeah, this is one of the first time I’m actually grateful for Hoyer’s stingy wallet.
Houston gets an A+. Made their fair market value offer to keep him as a lifetime Astro. He passed, they made trades and signed a 1B for way less than the value of his contract offer. They got better and saved money.
His AAV means literally nothing in baseball.
It means something to him and it means something to Boras. It also hamstrings the budget of the sucker team that agreed to pay it.
Cubs – I’m guessing the AAV after deferrals will be around $35M, either way it’s a massive fail on the part of Boras/Bregman compared to the $182M contract he was projected to earn.
I really think he intends to use Fenway to boost his numbers this season and then opt out, which works for me. So if it turns into a 1-year $35M contract I’m cool with that. As I said months ago, he’s following in the footsteps of Correa who did the same thing with the Twins after leaving Houston.
Fever, totally on board but let’s say he does have a great season. Unless his road numbers show he’s great outside of Fenway, who’s paying him more? If Campbell shows he’s ready, I don’t see Henry suddenly extending beyond the fourth year he would have considered this year. Let’s see how this plays out.
dewey – That’s where stats such as OPS+ come into play, as it takes into consideration Park Factor.
I think he needs to put up at least a 130 OPS+ for him to get the longterm contract he wants.
But remember, all it takes is one team to make a stupid offer.
Dewey, I have seen your comments over the years and really respect your views. This player appears to be declining while in Houston which is a hitters park. Going into his walk year he did his best and still declined. 2024 production is all he has left and it goes down hill from there as father time is undefeated. I feel like this is a massive overpay. Also regarding 2nd base the Sox have Campbell waiting in the wings. I am glad Detroit did not get this guy.
Ya the Dodgers might pay it if they miss the Series this year. They spend stupid money all the time
“His AAV means literally nothing”…It does mean something to snake oil salesman Scott Boras. How else is he to explain falling TENS of MILLIONS of dollars short(again)in his promises to clients?
We all know Pete Alonso and Bregman were expecting $150M+ long-term deals and instead settled for short term, opt out laden deals.
Isn’t this just what Jordon Montgomery was talking about when he publicly said that Scott Boras blew his free agency chances just last year?
@MLB Uet another attack on Boras derived from once political affiliation. Nothing more laughable then someone giving up free will and free thinking in the name of politics.
“”Nothing more laughable”…In actuality having no real points related to what I said and then to bring up politics and “political affiliation” as an excuse for ignorance is as weak as it gets.
That is actually much “more laughable” than what you said, if the truth be told.
@mlb
Maybe you missed it. He had a standing offer from the Astros for the $156 mil, AND he had an even better offer from the Tigers for 6/$170 mil that bested the previous higher offer by $14 mil. Boras can’t force teams to offer more but what he did successfully was create a market for him where he had the option to prioritize comfortability (Houston), most money (Tigers) and maybe a compromise of the two (Boston).
@MLB You have been ranting or resorting to politics for quite some time on hear. It’s been made quite obvious by past comments you are against both Boras and players union which aligns with your political beliefs.
What a sad existence political zealots like yourself live in.
No such thing as free will tho. Data says every choice is predictable based on environmental, cultural, personal factors to a degree we rarely if ever make random choices. See Robert Sapulski.
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that’s clear
I will choose free will
Neil Peart- Rush
A man. A plan. A canal. Panama.
V. Halen
*here
Stop making Tigers fans sound stupid. We do that enough without inserting politics into a baseball conversation
Just no – hard no.
If he has a monster season and opts out it sets a baseline for the next contract by dragging AAV expectations higher. Agents love anything that pushes the numbers higher whether years or AAV.
dug – Very true, but nobody goes by the inflated deferral amounts.
Based on the latest update, he’s actually getting $30M a year NPV.
If the report is true, that’s less than he was paid each of the past two years. Which makes the odds of him opting out next offseason even greater.
His total earnings over six years does matter to him and he’s betting that with this deal his earnings over six years is 200+
And barring injury (of course it’s a gamble) he’ll probably win that bet.
Imagine trading a generational homegrown talent like Mookie just so they can overpay Story, Yoshida and Bregman.
Rking – Well said. As cheap as they’ve been the past 5 years, when they have spent it’s been foolishly.
And even though the intention was for Devers to improve defensively over time, if he’s moved to DH or 1B right now then that makes him a huge overpay as well.
@Rking
Mookie Betts was never signing an extension to play in Boston. Red Sox deal for him didn’t pan out, but they had their hand forced by Betts insistence to leave in FA.
Scott – You keep believing that if it makes you feel better.
I wonder what’s going to happen with the young bucks that are knocking on the door and are probably ready?
Imagine being hung up on something that happened 5 years ago under different circumstances.
Molly – I totally agree. Those who keep insisting Mookie didn’t want to stay in Boston are just perpetuating a very old lie fed to the public by ownership.
The Red Sox made a horrible decision, they’ve paid the price, let’s focus on what they are doing now because we can’t change the past.
AT that price he has opt outs? Insane! Those other offers were pretty big as well.
Cubs save $, stuck at 86 wins yeeha
I’m not sure how many people agree with me but I’d honestly rather have the spot open for shaw to get experience than to have him sit behind bregman for a few years
Most years, I’d totally agree. This year is a bit different for me though with players nearing the end of their time with the Cubs, in lieu of extensions (Happ, Suzuki) and Tucker only guaranteed here in 2025. So, we’re kinda in a win-now mode
I saw Shaw covering 2B (probably a better long term position for him anyway) during Hoerner’s time away if necessary and spot covering for Bregman and Hoerner when he’s back full time.
Then, when Hoerner is gone in two years, he battles that spot out with Triantos.
Not to be. No big deal though.
If you’re a Detroit Tigers fan who would you rather have?
Bregman – 79R, 26 Hrs, 75 RBIs, .260 BA. GG. $30-$40m a year
Vierling – 80R, 16 Hrs, 57 RBIs, .257 BA. For MLB minimum a year.
No brainer – The younger Vierling over the aging Bregman.
Literally anyone would rather take 3/120 over 6/170
I would’ve expected 30 Aav for bregmans 3 year contract not 40
I figured the Cubs wouldn’t budge at 4/$120 and glad they didn’t.
It’ll be interesting to find out how much of the Boston $s are deferred.
If they were willing to go 4 120 for bregman..they should already have a 4 to 5 year offer at 40ish for tucker..he is a much better player and they already traded a lot to get him the extra 10ish million a year is nothing for what they would get in return compared to bregman
You should assume Tucker is gone. He will not extend and the Astros knew that he wants a monster deal. He will try and put up huge numbers so he can go to the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets or some other team ready to go with megabucks. I can guarantee Tucker is not taking 5 yrs for 200 million. Thats small money.
I would agree mostly..but he is only going make 16.5 this year so an extra 23 to 25 million might be enough to entice him..if lets say he can opt out in year 3..i doubt it will be enough but cant hurt to try
Sad – Let’s wait and see how much is deferred.
My hope is he opts out after this season.
Is it really that bad when he can give you Devers production or better and play better defense? Bregman has a higher career OPS+ than Devers.
Bregman’s best days at the plate are behind him, so comparing career OPS+ isn’t accurate. Sounds like he’s gonna play 2B and Devers stays at 3B anyway.
Looking at past production is how you get DJL Stanton Ellsberry.
The last season Bregman was better with the bat than Devers was 2020
Or Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, or Gerritt Cole taking a team to the World Series. See how that works? Bregman’s juiced-ball peak days might be behind him but his peripheral stats don’t indicate that he can’t play at an All-Star level.
Ann All Star level earning $40/ year? Clearly that’s an over pay
Judge Soto Cole have data to go with their stats. See how that works? Of course you don’t you’re looking at stats!!!!!
Bregman’s 2021/2024 numbers:
BA – .262 …. xBA – 260
wOBA – 345 ….. xwOBA – 339
SLG – 444 ….. xSLG – 420
BABIP has has been low for him (.268), but his has always been low, his BB% cratered this past season ….. not sure what peripherals we’re supposed to be looking at?
Within the context of a large market team which had traded for Crochet and is vying for contention and remains under the CBT line, it’s not that big of a stretch.
@YourDream Well crystal balls have had supply chain issues. So past production is one of many tools utilized by front offices and scouting departments.
Ezpkns34
His pull-rate which has cratered from his career norms. Pitchers are throwing to him down and away far more often while his out-of-the-zone swings have increased. At the same time, his bat speed and hard hit rates haven’t changed much. I’m using data from both Savant and FG. This may suggest a mechanical and plate approach issue rather than a physical decline. I think he will have a good rebound season if he utilizes the Fenway Green Monster.
@Tigers3232 My balls are fantastic. But no doubt there are teams using past production. Only explanation for their decisions.
Imagine what Tucker gets next yr, if he puts up big numbers? Probably starts at 300mm.
@CubsIn25
Would you be so kind as to lend your crystal ball to Hoyer so he can know who and when to trade/acquire?
You do realize how ridiculous you sound when you make a definitive statement about a player’s future production?
YBC – Until the shoulder injury brought down Devers late in the season, he was Top Four in OPS for all MLB players last year.
I’m going to patiently wait to see how much is deferred, where he will play, and the ripple effect it has on other players and the team as a whole before I fully judge this contract.
To keep it short, the Red Sox really needed (and repeatedly stated they wanted) a guy who mashes against LHP and is a good overall OBP hitter since most of the team is a free-swinging strikeout machine.
With Bregman they got the exact opposite of what they said they wanted and needed … so that is my first concern.
They also got a guy who has declined offensively in several categories over the past few years, and hasn’t been an upper level hitter since 2019 … that is my second concern.
My third concern is the corresponding player moves. Who does this force out? If he really plays 2B, that takes away his greatest value which is a GG 3B. And what about Grissom, Cambpell and Mayer? None can become starters as long as the highly paid Story and Bregman are covering middle infield.
If he does end up playing 3B, what happens with Devers? Does he move to 1B and Casas gets traded or becomes the DH? Does that force them to eat Yoshida’s huge contract right when he’s due to have a healthy .900 OPS season?
There’s just so many variables, and the Red Sox have a history of making bad decisions the past 5 years. Hence the concern.
(and for me that’s keeping my response short LOL)
@Your Are tou serious? Yeah they give out $120M over 3 years just looking at stats.
The explanation you re missing is they are in the business of MLB and are far better at it then any of us here commenting. They have tape of every game at thei disposal and have entire staffs to analyze everything about these players.
Cheep cheep, 2nd place now, 2nd place later
@Tigers3232 They aren’t better than me. All but a few teams aren’t even in my universe. Yeah they have a small army if scouting analytics video and make idiotic decisions. In some cases they had to be looking at old stats because there’s zero data or scouting to justify what they did.
YBC – I think learning a new position will negatively impact his offense, if indeed he does take over 2B.
It’s called common sense dude. Your ignorant response is indicative of your lack of capacity to think beyond past experience.
@Your HAHAHA yeah OK you re better than MLB GMs….. That is asinine if you actually believe that.
@Tigers3232 Better and not close. I would have never given out those contracts to Bogarts Bryant Baez Rendon Miggy Ellsberry insert whatever obviously awful contract. I wouldn’t have traded the cy young winner for a average 2b prospect. They let the Pirates take Bart for free and Yankees get Hill for free. They are terrible at their job. It’s a fact I am better. Someone would call me out if I wasn’t. You must be new here because it’s common knowledge who fantastic I am.
HAHA HAHA that’s hilarious if you actually believe what you are saying. LMAO!!! There’s a reason you are on here commenting like the rest of us and not running a MLB team. You seriously need to get over your own ego…
And FYI Rendon was coming off 3 amazing seasons, there was nothing indicative of what was to come. That alone just exposed yourself.
Anyone can be right judging in hindsight.
I analyze pretty much every single trade signing the day it happens. I’m the most confident person on the site. Everyone knows me. Most find me arrogant and can’t stand me. If I was wrong people would be calling me out left and right. They would copy paste my comments quoting me how I was wrong. You never see that happening though. I have no interest in being a real gm. I enjoy creating formulas and baseball. This is just a hobby. I don’t want a job.
I’m on this site regularly and have been for years, nobody holds you in such high regard that they hang by your every word and would be cutting and pasting your comments. Yes you are arrogant and pompous, much like Samuel. Only Samuel’s comments are exponentially more accurate and informative than yours.
Again you really need to get over your ego…
You can’t read so end of conversation
Just wait to see how many people comment in support and value anything you say…
“If I was wrong people would be calling me out left and right.”
“If I was wrong”
“If I was wrong”
“If I was wrong”
That enough times for you?
You haven’t been here for years or you aren’t too bright. This article is dead. Most people lose interest in commenting in a few hours. Days later aint happening. People don’t praise anyone on here or anywhere else online. What are they going to say me a dum dum and you are a genius dreamgm. Come on now it’s the internet. Not happening. Now if I’m ever wrong you will see numerous people calling me out. For some crazy reason people don’t like me.
I indeed have been here for years. And again, you are not better than any MLB GMs just like the est of us on here.
People probably don’t like you because you re pompous and full of yourself for some unknown reason.
And you were just wrong above in regards to Rendon at the time of his signing. You know where you tried and failed to show your high baseball IQ….
Right about Rendon from day one. Better than the gms
Hilarious you thought Rendon was a good contract.
At the time he was signed it absolutely was, unless one had a crystal ball. Again just more hyperbole from you. Easy to make such claims in hindsight.
Thought you were done commenting?? Oh, you were just done as long as you also got the last word. Your type is so easy to spot.
Still find it hilarious you think you re better than MLB GMs HAHA HAHA
That’s about as funny as when you claimed a prospect “wasn’t in your top 100”. Like you have a top 100 prospect list!! HAHA
Then you double down and when called tried to claim that the top 100 prospect list isn’t derived from all the prospects in the Minors. HAHA. That’s just the cusp of what separates you from MLB GMs, a tiny peak at all that you don’t know. And that you think they give out a $120M deal just by looking at stats…. You seriously can’t be that slow.
this is a joke right? it has to be
@gimbo He truly thinks that highly of himself…
@Tigers
If you two don’t settle down back there I will turn this car around.
LOL My bad Cubs can only take so much of the arrogance from some of the individuals on here.
Hoping for a good year from your Cubs, I like the roster they put together. Was kind of hoping they’d have kept Bellinger. I think he would ve done well with the added lineup protection. But all and all looks like a solid off-season.
lol. All good Tigers. I couldn’t resist.
I’m with you regarding Bellinger. Hard to give up a solid bat and good defense at 1b and CF without a solid return to compensate for the loss. So far it is just salary relief… which is really frustrating if we’re supposedly going all in this year.
That’s what I didn’t like about trading Bellinger. To give up what they had for Tucker would ve liked to see them keep any other potentially potent bats in the lineup.
With size of Cubs market it’s sad they had to pinch pennies there. To me it’s being penny rich and dollar poor.
No place for Belli to play everyday after the Tucker trade, plus his $$ wouldn’t fit in the budget. Didn’t really overpay…Paredes’ bat doesn’t play at Wrigley, the 3B is promising but he hasn’t even made it to AAA, Wisneski ehh. Tucker is easily a top 7 player in the league and let’s hope he’s around for more than 1 year.
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
Anyone making proclamations of their intelligence neatly always lacking it…
So much for u being done commenting
HAHA LMAO You have absolutely ZERO history of such. There is nothing grading or labeling comments right or wrong. You are just further solidifying your own arrogance….
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.
Yeah with a little effort I can be a non common sense smug pompous individual like yourself. Only I don’t have it in me to have such a falsely inflated ego like you have.
It’s amusing you use the word “outstanding record” to refer to your opinions. You are truly an incompetent individual. It’s about as laughable as you thinking you are better than MLB GMs or that they give out $120M deals based off of just stats. LMAO HAHA
Send the links? Article information? Would love to see where you were right and most everyone else was wrong. I usually notice fellow geniuses and don’t recall your name but would love it if you just flew under my radar and would welcome you to the club with open arms vs you just being another casual who is clueless.
I’m not making claims to be better than anyone. I’m here to discuss baseball not act like a pompous fool as you do.
A genius? HAHA LMAO You are nothing near that. You can’t even properly structure paragraphs.
Just so you know. Writing ability isn’t a viable way to determine intelligence.
Oh it definitely is a portion of it.
Nope sorry but now you know
greyenlightenment.com/2014/06/09/iq-and-writing/
Actually yes there is a correlation. I ll save the other links for the shovel to truly let you dig your hole. 😉
What if English is a 2nd language or they don’t know it at all? What if they don’t care about proper grammar? What if they do it to entertain the spelling police? What if they are drunk? Using talk text? Just had a bad education but are capable of learning? O think that website is full of it. My ?’s prove that. What that website have to say about Hill Santana Bart Sale? That’s what I thought. I won’t read any article from someone with lesser intelligence than me who thinks you can measure intelligence from writing. Lol
Again anyone who has to make proclamations of their intelligence says alot….
Trust me nobody else thinks as highly of you or your opinion as you do.
Sure they do. Today’s off to a good start. Received lots of love.
There is no way in hell he’s going to opt out, no matter what kind of season he has no one is going to offer him $40m, he’ll be another year older and even last year he showed that he’s regressing.
@Gmaytag Depends on deferred $ and what free agency looks like. 4 teams offered him awful contracts is being 1 year older going to stop them? He already got his $ this year so doesn’t need to get the same $. I see a way. Maybe he just makes a bad decision.
Imagine the team dumb enough to give anyone opt outs at this salary? It only causes issues with future demands from Boras.
Gmay – He insisted on the first year opt-out for a reason.
A declining 31-year-old player is not gonna risk injury or continued declines for 3 years. His earning potential will be far lower when he’s 34 even if he manages to stay healthy and avoid further decline the next 3 years.
And if he has a good season this year, he will absolutely be able to land at least another $180M at NPV.
No not everyone, because $170 million is more than $120 million, and there is ZERO guarantee that a 34yo right handed hitter with diminishing power will get a $50+ million contract in 3 years.
If I were the Tigers, I would call up the Angels and see about a Baez for Rendon swap. Perhaps Rendon comes back before the end of the year and gives the Tigers a boost for 2025?
Two of the worst contracts ever. They both just need to be cut loose.
As bad as Baez has been, Rendon may never play again after hip surgery much less return to play this season.
Rendon is one of the worst players in MLB and is always hurt. He doesn’t even like baseball.
THIS.
He’s a complete jake.
PASS.
Rendon isn’t coming back his career is pretty much over. When he does return he’ll just get hurt again like always
Baez owed 3/73. Rendon owed 2/76. Rendon might be able to swing a bat in September and be ok next year, but even that feels like a stretch. 24M/year in basically dead money is manageable for a team like Detroit and Baez can at least contribute as a decent utility infielder off the bench with pinch running ability. Obviously not living up to his contract but significantly more than Rendon can offer.
Rendon is getting surgery and probably out for the entire yr. He cant hit, always hurt. Boras took the Angels for a ride.
Rendon won’t play this year. At least Baez is healthy. Who knows, maybe the hip was excruciating? I’m content with giving Jung a shot
Bennie this is the dumbest idea ever…Rendon is a clubhouse wart, while all reports say Baez is a positive influence in clubhouse. Rendon will most likely never take another MLB at bat. And while some fans may hope Baez doesn’t, there at least is a fraction of a chance he can get back to a serviceable level.
I have actually heard otherwise about Baez from someone who works part time at Comerica. We’ll I did not hear he was a negative influence, I heard he barely interacts with the young players.
Same guy said of Turnbull when he was Tigers “he was an odd dude”.
I’ve never sensed Javy seemed like part of the clubhouse. Not that he is negative, but he seems aloof. Everyone is reverent toward him but he often seems to stay to himself in the dugout. Who knows. It’s hard not to wonder if one of the reasons for the relaxed play during 31-11 was his absence.
But I don’t think he’s anywhere nearly as bad as Rendon. What I’ve read paints Rendon as someone who doesn’t even care about baseball. Gotta wonder if he poisons that clubhouse. This may be big case of addition by subtraction.
Cubs
Agree. Better to use that money on a mid-season pitching acquisition.
Yeah, give Shaw a chance at 3B with a backup plan (Berti, Workman). Still need a decent backup option at 1B for Busch. Canario and Berti just aren’t legit options
They need to start giving Ballesteros more 1B reps in the minors.
Maybe Alcantara or Caissie can take IB reps, too.
Ballesteros won’t be a catcher in 2 years time. Cubs trying to ride him out at the position but in the end he’s better off at 1st
Now the tigers can turn to a very much less expensive and short-term deal for either JD Martinez or Justin Turner….
for what they offered Bregman, it would seem they could afford both on a one year deal.
Tork is out if either if these 2 (JD Martinez or Justin Turner) are signed. I say let the kids play to see what we have.
After Tork’s comments, I have moved him behind Malloy on the depth chart, and now understand the Torres signing and the Keith to 1B move better.
I did just read they were looking at Turner
A resounding no. They are not as good as Carpenter.
The Tigers are not going to take Carpenters DH at bats in favor of an old DH-only RH hitter on a retirement tour
I was kinda hoping Boras wouldn’t win this one either. Bummer. It’s out of control
Detroit dodged a bullet.
So did Houston, Chicago, Toronto, and any mystery team.
Perfect contract fit for Bregman. He’ll play in a stadium that maximizes his potential free agent earnings in the future. Not unreasonable for him to get 5/150 next year.
He’s not gonna want to take a paycut… how can he expect to pay his bills on less than $40/year
Depends significantly on deferrals. But you take 3/120 because of the opt outs not because it’s more than 6/171.
You and I would, sure.
Bregman waited until the beginning of ST to sign in order to secure a new precedent. After locking up $40M per year, you think he’s going to opt out in order to secure an AAV (subject to deferrals) of less than $30M?? I highly doubt it.
5/150 is 30M AAV. If his market (or an extension from Boston) looks like that it reasonably gets him much closer to the 6/200 he was looking for than any other offer out there. Worst case scenario he makes 120M and hits free agency at 34
Yeah, my “less than 30M AAV” comment was off the 6/171 you mentioned above.
I still don’t see any scenario where any team is willing to pay a 32 year old Bregman $150M when only one or two were willing to pay a 31 year old Bregman $150M-$170M this year.
There is precedent for that with Bregman considering Matt Chapman literally just did that. And Bregs goes in with a bigger low-end guarantee of 40M/year he can fall back on. Plus if Boston makes the playoffs, he gets to show once again why competitors should want him.
A lot of ifs… Chapman’s calling card has always been defense (save for one or two seasons early in his career). No doubt Bregman has a solid glove, but I just don’t seen his situation improving a year from now being one year older. If he has a monster year and if Boston makes the playoffs and if Bregman goes off in the playoffs …
Bregman definitely won the stare down. I think the Red Sox will be left holding the bag
Boston doesn’t care that much if it hurts them in the backend of the contract. 3 years is enough to establish their elite group of young hitters within their lineup, and long enough to not owe any of them big money for the next 3 years. Plus have some good expendable and tradeable players now.
Have to pray AJ Preller doesn’t get fired. He might be the only gm stupid enough to not check the splits. Or Bostons gm gets fired and another team is stupid enough to hire him.
What splits? I thought that contract for Pivetta was great. Getting paid like a solid 3/4 in the rotation with potential to pitch like a 2 and a floor still in the rotation.
Whatever splits that made you think I was talking about Pivetta.
Preller was the giveaway.
Yeah, because just like Rockies players are expected to perform the same when they leave, Red Sox players don’t take a drop when they lose the Green Monster. (Mookie the exception). Isn’t that right, XB?
It’s refreshing to see my Blue Jays miss on a free agent by miles instead of finishing 2nd. This is what it’s come to.
You didn’t miss on Alonso or Bregman. Save your money and lock up Guerrero long term.
Our front office is determined to let him walk for nothing at the end of the year. At this point I have zero faith in them getting him to sign.
I’m waiting for the “Blue Jays Shown Interest in Alex Bregman” article.
Wow, that Harris was willing to offer him a 6 year deal is just terrible. The Tigers are so much better off without him and the roster inflexibility they’d be stuck with for years just as the farm boys are just getting started. Vierling is a bonafide everyday starter, and Jung needs to play, too.
Cubs Detroit need to fire gms and get new ones. Thanks for getting us to a good place but after these Bregman offers you aren’t right to take us any further. Unless they knew for certain Bregman wouldn’t say yes and were just bidding him up. Very risky to offer such awful contracts.
@Yours Yeah Cubs, Tigers, Astros and Sox all have GMs that don’t know what they re doing but you do. Get real….
Not even fit to tie the Superfife’s shoes!
When was the last time we won the World Series?
@Tigers3232 I obviously do. My track record is incredible and speaks for itself.
Vierling was one of the best players on the team. He needs to be in the lineup most days.
Vierling is a strong OF, and better than Devers at 3B. They really need someone who can play a strong defense there.
I agree. I like that now we know they’ll give that kind of deal. Just hope it’s to a better player next time. I started to get nervous when they were saying Houston wasn’t a finalist, and Chicago and Boston wanted him short term. Like, oh no, the left side of Detroit’s infield will be a black hole for years, lol.
$40 million for a 2nd baseman!!! Ouch! That’s gonna leave a mark!
An aging second baseman at that.
I’m so glad that Toronto didn’t pull the trigger on this. It’s clearly obvious that he didn’t care about winning and all he cared about was money.
Better chance of winning in Boston. Well until they signed Bregman.
Bregman now 5th highest paid player (AAV) in mlb for 2025 – same as Aaron Judge. Wow! Where do Bosox 3 star rookies Anthony, Campbell, Meyer) now fit in that lineup?
Black Hills Mud Hens
Bregman now 5th highest paid player (AAV) in mlb for 2025 – same as Aaron Judge.
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I curious if you understand what the term “AAV” stands for? Because Bregman’s AAV isn’t close to Judge’s.
This is the thing people fail to realize if MLB chooses to implement a salary cap… players are still gonna want to play in bigger cities. They will take less, just like Bregman.
He didn’t take less
I mean in a way he did, and in a way he didn’t. If he balls out, that’s 40m AAV and he will get another contract to get him closer to his 200m asking price. So in a sense he didn’t take less. But if he were to fall off a cliff production wise, or end up having a serious injury it could end up costing him almost 50m had he just accepted Detroit’s offer. But a player like bregman, I could see him aging well. His power might drop off a little the older he gets, but he should still get on base, hit for a decent average and play great defense, everything needed to get a new contract after his 3 years is up, or if he opts out and can secure a long term contract in the 30-35m range. If everything goes well he definitely has immense earning power left in the bucket.
Lots of “ifs” in your comment. An aging Bregman is now the 5th highest paid position player in MLB, there is no chance he opts out after this season.
@Braves_saints_celts He gets all his $ in 3 years. He gets a huge chunk year 1. He could take that nice 1 year pay and opt out and get a similar offer that was available to him yesterday. Is he going to drop off so bad he can’t get 50m in 3 years dunno. Should get some of it though hopefully. Doesn’t matter as long as he invests his $ he should make that $ up. He could make more $ opting out but has a awesome floor to fall back to. He didn’t take the safest way to make the most $ but probably the best odds to make the most $ and if everything goes up in flames 120m is a great guarantee.
MLB doesn’t need a salary cap, it needs a salary floor. In this day and age of league wide wealth and prosperity there is no reason for some owners (especially those collecting revenue sharing money) to pretend like they don’t have two nickels to rub together. Give every team a set payroll starting number and all 30 teams will have to spend somewhat
Union and the owners would want a salary floor and cap. You either have both or no cap at all.
This report would seem to suggest Bregman would have settled for 6 years at a $30 million annual salary. In other words, he and Boras whiffed on the initial ask for $200 million, then the consolation prize and took a huge AAV (which will be revised downward once the exact amount being deferred is specified), to soothe his ego. That’s an indisputable loss for his camp.
Even if Bregman improves in Boston and produces say, close to 6 wins in value (and I believe there are reasons for optimism), I keep seeing comments from Red Sox fans who would be content with, if not hope for him to opt out after the 2025 season. That speaks volumes about his true value to a franchise.
Don’t kid yourself, his reputation took a beating this offseason.
Wasn’t it Detroit that beat Houston in the playoffs last year? Bregman was probably never going to Detroit no matter what they offered him.
Yeah, that’s the reason.
Oh well. Torres will be as good as Bregman at 2B, offensively.
Wonder if Grissom spends some time out in the grass now that Bregman is apparently taking 2B. I also wonder if the talk about Bregman moving to 2B is just to play down the notion that they need to trade Casas or Yoshida, thus hampering any leverage in negotiations
Grissom likely just a guy so doesn’t matter what they do with him. Find a team desperate for 2b and see if they have any interest.
Grissom will probably be dumped to a small market, low payroll team or someone like Seattle. A low risk shot for them perhaps. Them top prospects are blocked now. Let alone Grissom.
Wow!
That’s a LOT of money.
It’s bad that Detroit offered that much money. Even worse, that other players know about it.
It’s good as a fan knowing they will for the right player. We got extremely lucky because Bregman wasn’t that guy to me.
They, and their agents, are going tomstart asking form that money.
How does that information affect players like R. GREENE, who won’t be offered anything close to that?
It’s actually a damaging leak.
Surprising because the FO has been quite tight lipped about their activities.
I don’t believe the Tigers made a significant offer to Alex Bregman. It was a Scott Boras plant and leak.
It’s a 3 year contract. He didn’t want to play for Detroit.
A lot of sour grapes to me. It’s only a three year commitment on an aging player. Yet Detroit offered six years. Houston six years. If he signed with either of those two teams, you guys would be wetting your pants and saying what a great signing.
Who would’ve said Alex Bregman is a great signing? I think he doesn’t fit Detroit at all.
No way. I’ve been freaking out about a long term deal with him. Detroit isn’t a place where we can keep absorbing those horrible deals like the teams on the coasts can. For 2025, fine, but not any longer and obviously he’d never sign a 1 yr deal. Personally, I’ve been consistent in my comments. Give Jung a shot.
His choice but IMO a mistake. Oh well, time to eto move on.
I think a lot of people should be happy for the non signing teams. This can easily become a very ugly contract, actually is immediately in my opinion, but if he should spend any significant time on the disabled list it will be even worse. I for 1 am glad Detroit walked away from going higher to get him, let’s try to make our prospects be better than Alex, and go with what we have.
Wonder what they’ll do with those top prospects that are ready. Campbell and Mayer specifically
Mayer and Campbell may play in AAA for a while. Mayer has yet to play in AAA and Campbell has only played 19 games there.
It’s a good deal, but ilI think it was going to be tough to pass up 40mil a year though. I’d be shocked if he opts out at all unless he’s an MVP in the next couple of years.
Even if he has another 4 WAR (Gah! WAR again) season like in ’24, I can see Bregman can opt-out and score a nine-figure deal again with no Q.O. attached.
Bregman will be another albatross contract like Trevor Story. The Tigers dodged a train wreck. Now he’s going to play 2B❓even worse. They already had a half dozen players that should be playing 2B that will be forced somewhere else.
So Bregman wanted the most money he could get yet took $50M + less to sign with Boston. Something does not smell right here, but it appears both Boston and Bregman will regret this move. Looks like the Tigers dodged a bullet but if they lost out on this deal because of not offering an opt out after year one, that’s horrible negotiating by the Tigers. Glad this drama/saga has come to conclusion though
Not to change the subject but in my book he will always be a dirty rotten chitter!! Sorry just can’t forget that stain on the game I love!!
Is it wrong to pray for a career ending injury? Is it?
Glad the Tigers did not sign him at that amount and number of years.
Now that bregman off the board, rickets happy where they are at payroll wise and under the threshold. It looks like that’s that with this team hoping Busch and Shaw play 162 without injuries so cross our fingers. Maybe Houston will show sympathy by giving either parades or smith back because Tucker is out out of here anyways.
Hoyer and rickets may come out of this smelling like a rose after all because I heard Mets not bringing iglesis back. Not only dose he play 2nd, short and 3rd, iglesiss also makes only $2m. Hoyer should be on phone with agent right now.
The Isotopes are his next pigeon.
I agree, Boston is in a good place to get a wildcard spot at least. Having 3 central division teams last year opened everyone’s eyes
Tigers are winners on this deal.
They already made a big mistake with Javier Baez.
The Tigers Farm System is now rated #2 in all MLB by multiple services including BA.
The Tigers 2nd. 3rd, 4th wave of players will be reaching Detroit in ’25, 26, 27.
Thr Tigers must play/give large #
of ABs to their highly rated young position player prospects to let them “break through”@ the MLB level.
Holding their top prospects back in the minors and blocking them with long free agent veteran contracts to older veteran players will only delay their MLB development,
careers and the maximum potential and achievement of their MLB team.
Sport – It’s the power of Cora, he always gets what he wants.
The big question is whether Bregman plays 2B or 3B. If he plays 2B, Grissom is toast and the Sale trade goes down as one of the worst in history.
Funny how the people who defended the trade saying the Sox got a perennial all-star are now fine with dumping him for virtually nothing.