That would be unprofessional trolling not a real offer. Theres not a single offer that has an AAV as low as 25 million, much less for a single season. Maybe one year 35 million with some player options or something of the sort.
I’d maybe go to $30 M but no higher. moving homes is expensive. If he is staring down the barrel of short term deals with opt outs a la Correa, staying here for a season would be an infinitely wiser strategy monetarily.
If Bregman is going to take a pillow contract it needs to be a front loaded long term deal with an opt out. He is entering his age 31 season, has an injury history, and is a notoriously slow starter. He needs to secure the largest bag he can.
Then he should have taken the Astros's offer. This wasn't a Correa type offer where everyone knew that he wouldn't take it. It was a bunch of money for 6 years for a 31 year old player who's best years are behind him by more than a couple of years. He's 5 years removed from his best year.
I think everyone, including Boras would admit that now. But it doesn't help get him a contract for 2025
I wonder if there was a do over and the Astros knew they could sign Bregman for the contract they offered if they would have waited, would they have signed Walker. Something says to me that Walker over Singleton for 3 years at 60 million is better than Bregman over Peredes for 6 years at over 25 million a year to Crane. If we can get a Brantley light type bat, we would be golden. Espada needs to figure where Baker got that banana pudding to get Chas right again. 2023 version of Chas would be a game changer for us.
I think there was limited inter-league play towards the end of his career, but I'm not certain of it. It started close to the same time - I think.
I don't think too many teams feel Bregs moves the needle enough competitively, and Bregs knows he most likely wouldn't be able to hike up his value at age 32 for a larger contract extension either. He's in a tough spot and definitely should've accepted the 6 years, but it was early and really thought he may have had more time to negotiate. If he goes back to Houston now, even at $30 mil, he'll admit defeat. His camp is looking for ways that he can accept an offer and not feel like they took a step back. Only way that happens is if he does a 3 year deal with opt outs at $90-$100 mil. Anything else would hurt him next season and beyond. His only recourse is to wait it out and hope somehow that another team realizes they have $190 mil for 6-7 years to spend right now and feel he's the missing piece to their franchise. The glue guy so to speak. Not too many teams can say they are that close to a World Series unfortunately.
I understand what you're saying. But Crane believes in developing pitching and and developing unproven guys like Altuve/Alvarez/Chas/Diaz etc.. then filling in the holes with guys like Parades/Walker etc... in trade/FA. The key is identifying guys like Diaz and trading for them when they're in the minors and to keep the mining the the Caribbean for talent. I know that most people think that the Stros talent in the minors is subpar. But I can name 5 position players, maybe more and 5 pitchers that have an above avg chance at being really good MLB players.
There's a lot of value in this philosophy. You're not paying a bunch of money to washed up players. This allows financial flexibility to sign guys like Walker. Abreu is the only guy they've really screwed up on by using this philosophy. LMJ/Montero were bad bets but not killers IMHO.
I could be being naive, but I don’t think there’s any shame in Bregman simply saying “at the end of the day, my wife and I didn’t want to leave Houston. We met here, started our family here, have roots here, and I won 2 rings here. Money isn’t everything.” No one would roast him for that; in fact, the PR on it would be great for him. But it wouldn’t change the fact that he didn’t get paid what he thought he would, and that’s the issue that could negatively affect him potentially coming back. I still think odds are super high that he’s gone, but with each passing day, hope returns. One thought that I had was that Bregman never intended to leave, he just waited long enough for the Astros to backfill him before coming back to ensure he came back to the most talented roster possible, knowing Crane would stretch to bring him back on what is perceived to be a below market deal. 3D chess and whatnot.
That is why my idea has always been to avoid signing free agents whenever possible. A need to sign a free agent is a sure sign that a minor league error has been committed. If left with no alternative tread lightly. Meaning sign the cheapest and shortest term contract available to get the position filled. Then work to correct the error and develop your own player. Always.
I have been thinking one year at 28 million with a player option for a second year at the same value. It is an offer of a familiar place to play among friends and another shot at free agency with a more realistic idea of what to expect.
Who was more fun in the OF: Biggio in LF trying to keep runners going from 1st to 3rd or 2nd to home? Or Berkman in CF trying to pretend he belonged there?
