Report: Alex Bregman, Red Sox Agree to 3-year, $120M Contract amid Cubs Rumors

After a stellar nine-year run with the Houston Astros, Alex Bregman is going to join the Boston Red Sox.

Per The Athletic's Chandler Rome, the 30-year-old has agreed to a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox in free agency.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Bregman turned down a deal from another team worth $170 million over six years.

There were a lot of questions going into last year about what the Astros' roster was going to look like after the 2024 season. Jose Altuve, Bregman, Justin Verlander, Ryan Pressly and Kendall Graveman were all on track to become free agents.

Altuve ended any speculation about his future when he signed a five-year, $125 million extension on Feb. 6, 2024.

As soon as that deal became official, the Astros started talking about wanting to keep Bregman. General manager Dana Brown addressed where things stood between the two sides at a Feb. 8 press conference:

"There's really not a timeline on this right now and at some point, we will make an offer. I think we both respect that and that's pretty much the conversation. Look, we love Alex, we'd love to have him here. As far as a timeline, we just don't have it, but we will at some point make him an offer. We know how good he is and how good he's been for this franchise. It would be tough to look out at third base and not see that elite defense. And so at some point we'll circle back and have those conversations."

Bregman signed a five-year, $100 million extension with the Astros in March 2019. His value in free agency was tricky to figure out because he's still a good player, but his production has dipped in recent years.

The two-time All-Star hit .260/.315/.453 with 26 homers in 145 games during the 2024 campaign. His .768 OPS was the lowest of his career in a single season.

Bregman was worth 4.1 FanGraphs' wins above replacement last season primarily because of his defense, which earned him his first career Gold Glove award. He had the lowest offensive value (10.7) in a season that he played at least 100 games.

By comparison, he hit .283/.381/.521 with 105 homers and 342 RBI in 559 games from 2016 to 2020. He finished top-five in AL MVP voting in 2018 and 2019.

Bregman talked about not having to worry about injury rehab last offseason for the first time in five years.

"Physically I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life, mechanically with my swing, and being able to hit in the offseason for the first time in maybe four years has been amazing," he said. "In the [2022] World Series, I broke my finger and had to rehab that. The year before, I had a hand injury. Just being able to hit for the first time in the offseason since the 2019 season has been awesome."

Even though Bregman may not be the MVP-caliber player he was at his peak, the Red Sox are still adding one of the best all-around third basemen in the league to their roster.

In a market that didn't have many high-ceiling position players after Juan Soto, Bregman presented the most intriguing combination of power and defense.

The Red Sox seemed like they were trying to make a big splash this offseason, but the addition of Bregman does raise some questions about their planned defensive alignment going forward.

Rafael Devers has been entrenched as their third baseman. He's not a great defensive player by any means, so there is the possibility Red Sox manager Alex Cora installs Bregman at the hot corner with Devers shifting to either first base or designated hitter.

There's also the possibility the Red Sox try Bregman at second base. He did play five games at the position earlier in his career, but doing it full-time would be something completely different.

These are certainly questions the Red Sox went over with both Bregman and Devers. The most important thing is they added an impact player who can help get them back into playoff contention after three disappointing years following an appearance in the 2021 ALCS.

Adding Bregman to the roster after previously acquiring Garrett Crochet and signing Walker Buehler makes the Red Sox more formidable in 2025. If those three players can perform up to their full potential, they might be able to challenge for a wild-card spot in the a deep American League.