That's another aspect to this. Say the Astros trade Tucker for Paredes Bellinger or Suzuki Shaw or Smith. ( obviously some are better than others) Does that commitment to 2026+ help steer Alex back as he wants a team looking to compete throughout his 6-8 years.
For some reason it hurts more in MLB than any other sport to me when a player your team drafted leaves to get paid by another team. Is it because it's my favorite sport and I let my emotions and attachment to the player's journey get to me?
Bregman like all others, will follow the money whether it be from a contender or the A's. Money talks, all else is just a dream. There no hometown discounts. Players don't give two shites about state taxes. They just want to hear the Brinks truck backing up.
Trading Tucker to the Cubs and re-signing Bregman would be a nice one-two punch to Brian Cashman's hairless dome.
I understand the logic. However, you could apply this in nearly every scenario to “prove” how it makes sense to trade every single player once they’re 2 or 3 years out from FA. And frankly I don’t think that’s a good way to manage a baseball team. This isn’t the Oakland A’s.
I understand and agree that there are players who you keep ( Altuve and I had Correa there too) or try to keep It's fine to identify a generational guy who is so good, or important, that's it's worth the risk to keep trying. But the point of free agency is that the players get to decide. And the point of a free market is competition. Identify your stars in years 1-3 Actively pursue extensions years 3-5. Trade away valuable players who refuse extension. Once free agency hits there is basically no chance to get value for your buck. Chances are the player walks and a Comp pick is way less value than a trade w/ 1 year of control left.
