Carpenter had a .994 OPS vs righties last year with close to 40 XBH in only 284 ABs. If Chas can get back to raking LHP you could have a helluva platoon going on there between Chas, Meyers, and Carpenter
A rightie facing OF of Carpenter/McCormick/Heyward and a lefty facing OF of Dubon/Meyers/McCormick would be extremely good.
I would love Carpenter, eventhough he has a stone glove. But I simply don't see the Tigers trading him away, when he is still in pre-arbitration, and they are spending money trying to contend.
Crazy how both fellas from the 2015 hyped draft leave the Astros in the same offseason. And quite interesting how only 8 out of the total 36 round 1 players have ever been named an all stars. Considering that the Astros could have been saddled with Brady Aiken in 2014, especially had he accepted the Astros very generous offer. But to the good fortune of the Astros he turned them down and the Astros got to select Bregman in 2015. The Astros being able to draft Tucker was a stroke of good luck too, because neither of Dillon Tate or Rogers amount to much, both drafted ahead of Tucker. I just saw that Brendan Rogers is a free agent too, so I wonder how much he’ll sign for himself. Good defensive SS, but not the best bat. I still remember how much the Rangers coveted Bregman, as his grandfather had been instrumental in moving the Rangers to the Metroplex. They loved his talent and the underlying storyline. Both Bregman and Tucker provided for some unbelievable memories to Houston Astros fans.
This Bregman think is still weird. Astros did him right by not only bringing him to the majors a year after being drafted, but then signing him to a near record $100 mil contract while still under team control and arbitration eligible. He got that contract after hitting 40+ HRs, but now that his stats have fallen off he thinks he's owed more? I think Boras definitely got to his head saying, "Don't worry... I do this all the time, the Astros will cave." Something tells me that this is a blessing for the Astros though and that Pena will actually have better stats going forward (or in a year or so) than Bregman on a much lower pay scale.
I think there's more to Pena's 2022 playoff performance than we've seen the past 2 seasons. I also feel Bregman will be more injury prone than Pena in the next 5 years or so. We'll see
Biggio's situation of almost leaving the Astros in 1995 is eerily similar to Bregman's now. "I was probably minutes away from being a Rockie, honestly," Biggio told Morosi as he recalled a free agency pursuit by Colorado. "I never wanted to leave, I didn’t want to go anywhere. … But the organization took a stance, they weren't moving [on a contract offer]. So I'm like, 'OK, so, we don’t really have a choice here.'"
The funny thing is, I don't think he can increase his value in a year or two like Correa. He might as well sign for the additional 3/72 for security if it's even on the table still. Honestly though, the best bet for any team signing Bregman is a shorter term deal. Keeps him motivated and playing and if he has 2 to 3 more seasons of at least last seasons production then perhaps another 3 years is possible but would be interesting for how much.
I bet Biggio signed with the Astros before it went that far, while Bregman tried to draw it out more.
Bregman has lost all the leverage will be lucky to get 3/84 as drscribed above if you ask me. Teams w the big cash to pay the giant contracts are dropping out like flies it seems.
Everyone said all of these same things during the crazy Harper/Machado offseason. They were both unsigned in early Feburary when everyone had spent all their money... and then both got $300MM deals from surprise teams. No idea what contract he will get, but there will always be money available.
I wouldn't go and undercut the initial offer. If Crane really wants to still give it another go with Bregman, he should offer the initial rumored 6 years deal.
I wander if Crane has contacted Bregman stating, "So I heard teams are falling out. But you know who still loves you for who you are, right? That 6 year deal will be waiting for you when you're ready to come back home."