Astros are in talks with Bregman on a possible extension. UPDATE: Six years, $100 million.

The worst Bregman can do is make $100 ****ing million dollars. Win win for both sides. If Alex plays at the level we expect him to, he’ll get another extension before this one is up.

As for Correa, he’s coming off of essentially punting a season. If he can get a full season in at the level he’s capable of, I’m sure the Astros would LOVE to give him that deal.... Correa may have other plans though.....

 

Bregman signed his Adidas deal too. Cashing in now ... as the present/future face of the MLB

 

I really love the Astros for doing $100 million, not $102, or $92. Just flat 100 and I truly believe his contract based on stats ratio to money will be better than Harper, or Trout in the long run. Expect to see more wild numbers from other rich clubs and other clubs that will be priced out like the Rays, Marlins, Reds, or Royals.

 

Those concerned about Springer and Correa shouldn't be. If you think the Astros haven't attempted to do the same with both of them, I'd be willing to bet big money you'd be wrong. Both of them have made their choice that they're going to head to free agency as soon as they're eligible. That's fine. We can't keep them all.

The money they're paying him doesn't prevent a Verlander and/or Cole extension. It doesn't prevent the possibility of bringing Keuchel back this season since the contract doesn't kick in until 2020. This is a bet that Bregman is the one, if they were forced to choose, you keep. I think they're right. I love Correa...but we're still waiting for him to have that truly special complete season. He was on target in 2017 to have one but only played 109 games. If he can have that .300/35 hr/100+ rbi/over .900 OPS season, he'll be set.

 

I love this foundation setting move because Bregs is a baseball rat. I can see the money getting to him a little (no criticism, as who wouldn't be impacted by $100MM) and I've heard stories out of Alb, NM that give me a little pause, but he has high baseball character that should win out.

The unstated benefit here is Bregs can (and arguably should) be your SS of the future if Correa either doesn't pan out or leaves down the road. Way premature for all the correa speculation about preferring NY, but my point is Bregs can take SS anytime.

 

Correa wasn’t going to sign an extension coming off a down year. As others have said, he turned down extensions prior to last season. He thinks he is going to be a Harper type of free agent and if he stays fully healthy he probably will be. But if he keeps getting hurt he’s going to wish he’d taken an extension.

I don’t doubt Houston has offered Springer an extension, but I do doubt it was for anywhere near what Springer thinks he’s worth. He is a great guy but he doesn’t see himself for what he is: an aging, strikeout prone player hitting in a great lineup. He’s going to get Keuchel’ed in free agency.

Houston probably has room for one more deal like this before payroll starts to look bloated out in the 2022-2024 range. My hope is that Verlander is only looking for a 3-4 year deal and that Houston can keep him on to mentor the new Whitley/Martin/Bukauskas/James/etc pitching core. I don’t see Houston and Cole lining up.

Keuchel, Cole, Springer, and Correa hitting free agency in consecutive years also plays into my theory of Luhnow always wanting an extra draft pick.

 

We should be happy the Astros did not give a monster contract to Correa before last season. Until he proves otherwise, Correa is damaged goods. A 6 ft 4 inch short stop that has back problems at age 24? In 3 full seasons he's played 153 games, 109 games, and 110 games. Correa needs to put together two seasons where he plays 150 games and puts up big numbers before I would want the Astros to even consider extending him.

Also, his injuries saved the Astros millions in arbitration. Bregman is really enjoying that money....

 

The Astros have offered value/fair money deals in an act of good faith to several guys from way back. It’s both smart and a bad value, when it goes array.

I’m shocked that Matt Dominguez turned down a $17 million dollar deal.... Where is he now? At least Robbie Grossman has stuck around in the MLB. Jon Singleton made out pretty good for himself...

Springer and Correa have both been approached. Even Altuve on his initial contract was a good faith effort which Altuve preformed leaps and bounds above that contact. And the Astros gave him a better contract to better match his performance.

Kudos to Bregman to working with Astros. His Arbitration years would be like 30-45 million (kris Bryant recently set record of $10 million for 1st year arb elig, Donaldson set record at $23 not too long ago). And so this 2 year extension is like 30 - 25 million per year for those last 2 years of the deal. It sends a message to the core, the Astros are committed. Oh and Trout just netted 36 million a year. Bregman is getting slightly below market value.

 

It will be interesting to see if there is any evidence of this deal changing the team chemistry. Altuve’s deal was probably really palatable for Springer and Correa because Altuve was there before them and because he is so likable. Bregman being younger and having an...umm...”strong personality” might be different. Hopefully Hinch and Altuve can help navigate it. Another reason why I think it’d be smart to extend Verlander; he’d be another smart, veteran guy to help keep everybody focused.

 

"From heav'nly thoughts all true delight doth spring, but doth Cobb gets what for swinging a what?" - Booket T. Washington on Ty Cobb earning an unprecedented 10k per year after assaulting a heckler.

 

But why would they be? They tried to buy Springer out of his arbitration years when he was still in the minors and I'm sure they've made the offer at least a few times since. It's a personal decision to not take that money and be able to try out free agency.

Also, Bregman is actually about 5 months older than Correa...

 

Because I doubt they offered Springer $100M. And they probably aren’t offering Correa $100M now.

 

Carlos Correa has had a long list of injuries

He broke his leg at High A, has a plate and screws in his right leg.

Reoccurring back injuries

Torn his right thumb, had surgery

Had surgery for his nose due to breathing issues, nasal passage was blocked, had issues breathing during running, it can even affect his swing I believe.

 

He should have been breathing through his eyelids anyway.

 

Haven't seen any articles with an analysis of this deal from any sports writers... I'd be interested in getting their take.

 

Creech: Extending Alex Bregman is Astros' smartest move yet

 

Man, that made up word "dece" and the usage of it sounds so cringey in my head.

 

Great article, thanks for posting.

 

+1; thanks!!