The Boston Red Sox are still in the hunt for free-agent infielder Alex Bregman as spring training beckons.
Bregman, who just finished up a five-year, $100 million extension with the Houston Astros, has been seeking a six- or seven-year contract in free agency. But while Houston and the Toronto Blue Jays have both reportedly offered six years, he still hasn’t been happy enough with an offer to sign on the dotted line.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox have been unwilling to offer more than four years, according to multiple reports. Their only chance may be that Bregman remains unsatisfied with his longer offers and takes a shorter deal with Boston to rebuild his value and hit free agency again in a year or two.
But should the Red Sox be the most urgent team chasing after Bregman? Jake Mintz, host of Yahoo Sports’ Baseball Bar-B-Cast, recently named Boston as the team that needs Bregman the most in free agency.
“The Red Sox are the team that has the least excuse,” Mintz said. “He makes them better… He’s a right-handed bat in a lineup that is left-handed heavy. If he is willing to go play second base, to me, that’s a no-brainer, and the only thing that is stopping them is their desire to keep the payroll down.”
Mintz eventually predicted that Bregman would re-sign with the Astros because of his sentimental value to the city. But Jordan Shusterman, Mintz’s co-host, predicted that the Red Sox would be the team that eventually landed Bregman once he accepted that he wouldn’t get the long-term deal he sought.
“I’m leaning towards Boston, still, somehow, that they find a way to make it work,” Shusterman said. “I can see Boston being the team that winds up giving him the short-term contract. That’s a place that he could enjoy hitting for a shorter period and then maybe re-enter the market.”
Getting the 31-year-old Bregman on a deal that doesn’t hurt them down the road could make the Red Sox’s offseason a massive win. But the danger they’ve put themselves in is the possibility of losing out on a player that can make them better now because they’re too concerned about the future payroll.
