With pitchers and catchers scheduled to report for spring training later this week, 108 MLB free agents are still looking for their next baseball homes. But “far and away the best player still available,” according to MLB.com writer Mark Feinsand, is Alex Bregman, the 30-year-old former Houston Astros third baseman.
Bregman, however, does not remain unsigned because nobody wants him. According to media reports, he has received offers from several teams, including the Boston Red Sox. In this case the player, and his agent Scott Boras, are the ones holding out.
“Unlike some of Scott Boras’ other clients,” Feinsand wrote, “Bregman appears to have no desire to sign a short-term deal with opt outs.”
That is the type of deal fellow Boras client Pete Alonso ended up with, from his original club the New York Mets. Despite entering free agency expecting a deal in the neighborhood of six years and $200 million, Alonso took a two-year contract for $54 million from the Mets, with a provision allowing him to terminate the deal after one season and dive back into the free agent market if he chooses.
Nothing like that has appealed to Bregman so far, at least not based on his public actions — or more accurately, lack of actions. He has received several offers, but none meet his standards, according to USA Today MLB insider Bob Nightengale.
There’s also no sign that Bregman would dramatically lower his asking price when he already has at least one six-year offer on the table,” Nightengale wrote in a Sunday column. “The Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros have all made offers of at least four years to Bregman, but no one has been willing to meet his asking price.”
The six-year offer referenced by Nightengale came from the Astros themselves. Reportedly, the team that made Bregman the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft has an offer on the table for six years at a $156 million price tag. But according to the USA Today columnist, the Astros are “pessimistic” that Bregman will take it.
The Chicago Cubs are also pursuing Bregman, but are not willing to exceed a contract length of three years, Nightengale reported. The money figure attached to the Red Sox offer has not been publicly revealed.
