Signing an extension requires a willing player. Tucker had lots of money and any player that isn't desperate and believes in themselves is almost certain to make way more money getting to free agency. There's no indication that Tucker had any interest in an extension and delaying his big payday. If Bregman doesn't get his big deal this offseason, then he's exhibit A of a reason why you don't sign an extension. What does Bregman earn if he's takes 3 years of arbitration + being a free agent at 28 years old?
Different circumstances for Altuve and Bregman. Players rely on agents on to understand and maximize their value. Bregman is in his prime seeking arguably his final major payday. Altuve's extension worked out, but that's in large part because the Astros offered $25MM/yr for his 35-39 yr old seasons. It's not like Altuve took a discount to make that deal work - it was the Astros that paid because they felt pressure to make Altuve an Astro for life. They didn't need to do that for Bregman and offered him much less relative to their age/prime years.
Bregman needs to hurry up and post a thank you Houston you'll always be home blah blah blah blah, how dare the Astros piss off Boras by not waiting for Boras and Bregman to make a decision...
No Carlos Correa is literally breaking Down Physically. Bad Back that needs surgery, plantar fasciitis in his foot, broken leg plate and screws. Fractured ribs by his wife. Gerrit Cole wanted to go to New York and get paid. Kyle Tucker rejected the Astros Contract 2 times. Enough is Enough move him along. George Springer missed most of season his first year, played on since, his Avg is always a problem.
The New York Mets is the best fit for Bregman and wife, she worked in New York. The Mets need to pay up and Protect Juan Soto batting behind him in the lineup.
Has he been injured by playing in LF? I can not recall that he has but there is a lot I can no longer recall.
A few years ago he hurt his hand. And I remember he had a scary adventure with a fly ball where he slid on the charging track and hit the wall. It's not that he has hurt himself playing LF. It's that there are more chances of getting hurt in LF than sitting in the dugout.
Altuves first extension came when he was still in his 20's, even younger than Bregman. He was also coming off a WS and MVP season.
I don't recall him being injured in the OF since his knees were fixed after 2019 or 2020. But he has been injured on the base paths which he's still doing at DH. I think I do remember a collision, but not an injury.
Exactly. I'm sure both Click and Dana tried many times to extend Tuck. Most likely offered him the same 6 year / $115M deal we gave Yordan. Takes two to tango. Tuck was determined to get to free agency.
(probably because he didn't want to be like Bregman is now... as bregman did sign an early extension which has aged him out of most teams plans for a second big deal). I feel like most free agents who do that early deal are basically putting a down payment on staying on the team indefinitely. That team also has the inside track for additional extensions or to elect to sign that player outright for the rest of their career. The Astros did offer him that sort of deal. They stalled or turned it down... but it may in fact be the best offer they end up getting this off-season.
No idea what they offered and we probably never know how much, how often, or how many tries. But with his defense and baserunning, he is worth more than Yordan and was never going to accept that. I hope they went at least 8 years and $200M at some point or else every bit of effort was wasted and they never had any hope. They are just trying to con us to keep up from rising up in online and in-stadium rage and negativity if they didn't go at least that high. No other purpose or reason for that type of "saving face" kind of attempt. Then again maybe they offered 10 yrs $250M before he hit arbitration and we simply don't know.
Boras seems to like dragging things out. It's like he does not realize teams have lots of issues to address and can not put them all off while he screws around. It is disrespectful to the teams and leaves the player in limbo. In this case I think it is pretty clear that Bregman was not happy with the outcome. Sad for him and sad for us. I think in the future teams need to include a drop dead date on offers to his clients and stick to them.
Boras could care less about teams and their issues. His job is to get the best contract possible for his client within the terms the client outlines. If waiting causes any/all teams other problems that isn't his concern. In fact, he would be in breach of his contract if he did conduct business in order to prevent the teams from having these issues.
He was also paid market (or above) value then. There was no arbitration uncertainty then, Altuve was 2 years from having a chance to make any real money, and he managed to lock in 5 added years at $30MM per year. At the time, only one infielder (Cabrera) made $30MM/yr and no second baseman was close. The Astros had just won a WS, were flush with cash, and had no real financial commitments so it was an easy decision. FWIW, Bregman took a similar (though smaller) deal under similar circumstances, though arbitration was still in play there so the exact value was a little less defined. Those are the extensions that make sense for everyone - lock in generational wealth when its not necessarily guaranteed. The Astros were able to do similar things with Yordan, McCullers, and Javier, with mixed results. But the downside of waiting is not really there when you're just a year away. Correa is a great example - he didn't take the extension, had a gazillion injury problems and never developed into offensive force people had hoped. He waited too long in his first free agency, managed to get $35MM for a year, then had more injury problems (foot), signed a $300MM deal which got killed due to that injury, and then still managed to sign a $200MM deal at $36MM/yr. So even when everything went wrong, he got more than he ever would have with an extension. In current MLB, the extensions that are win-win are really the pre-arb type ones - the team takes on risk and the player gives up upside. But once free agency is in sight, there's not much risk involved for the player. So unless you're paying market value, there's no reason for the player to do it. And there's incentive for them not to given that they can't create a bidding war and can probably get the same deal from the home team in free agency anyway. Juan Soto, for example, would have never gotten the deal he got as an extension from the Yankees a year ago.
