At this point, who knows where Bregman goes other than him, his wife and Boras? Also, it’s definitely possible that he’s frustrated with the Astros’ pursuit of him. My only point is the Astros have no reason to keep their offer on the table if either Bregman has informed them he’s leaving, or they are tired of waiting on him. They would like to pivot to their backup plans with Spring Training beginning on Friday, and games starting February 20.
Not sure that is the case. It might be sign Bregman or do nothing and stay under the CBT. Sort of like last year where Crane was only willing to go over the CBT to get an elite player like Hader. The down year for Bregman and the Matt Chapman extension likely sank his free agency dreams. Chapman is one year older and signed for 6 years 151 million. Chapman in 2024 .247 AVG, 27 HR, .328 OBP, .790 OPS, 125 OPS+, 121 WRC+, 5.5 fWAR, and a gold glove Bregman in 2024 .260 AVG, 26 HR, 315 OBP, .768 OPS, 118 OPS+, 118 WRC+, 4.1 fWAR, and a gold glove So tell me Mr Boras.... Why does Alex deserve another 50 million and a higher AAV compared to the contract you just negotiated for Matt Chapman? We aren't paying Bregman for what he did in 2018 and 2019.
I highly doubt the Astros go into the season with a starting outfield of Mauricio Dubon, Jake Meyers Chas McCormick and Ben Gamel along with hoping that someone like Jacob Melton pushes for playing time in Spring Training. Does that mean they make an expensive acquisition if Bregman doesn’t return? No. But, they could sign a free-agent reliever like Hector Neris to help replace Pressly and either trade for outfield help (Cedric Mullins or Mike Yastremski) or bring in another depth piece like Alex Verdugo or Mark Canha to compete for an outfield job in Spring Training.
You could even make the case that there is a higher chance they'll upgrade the OF and spend more with Bregman than without (presuming at that point, they're already in the CBT).
I haven't but I've never been in a position to negotiate over millions of dollars He's not taking less. Nobody is offering what he wants
Because he's a year younger and has been better and more consistent year to year throughout his career.
Cut the holier than thou ****. He'll be just fine with 6/156. He's taking less money, but he will be JUST FINE with his prior 100+ million dollar contract and this 156 million dollar contract. Such a stupid ****ing post.
Crazy how Bregs hasn't signed yet. I am starting to wonder if he ever really wanted to be here. Sure, it's not the money he's looking for but 6/156 is plenty fair.
Agreed - the 6/156 is the real deal. It was released by Boras to set the negotiating floor. Boras' office is also responsible for leaking that the Astros offer is still on the table. That's the way these things work - you leak info to make all parties believe they're losing the negotiation. The Astros aren't going to come out and refute a report that their offer is still on the table, because it doesn't make sense to. As for Ari, I'm aware of his connection to the team. His report was intentionally vague. He doesn't say what the "improved" offer was, because he wasn't told. He was just told by someone connected to the team that they (Astros) improved their offer... which is completely subjective. Again, no reason to refute or talk about it from the Astros side. The other offers won't be reported until Bregman wants them to be. It limits his pool of potential landing spots if a team thinks they are already priced out. Ambiguity is king in negotiations. Make everyone think they're losing the bidding war, but don't tell them what they're losing by. It drives up interest, and drives up the cost.
Any team that thinks they are priced out IS priced out and no longer relevant. Right now that mark is 6 years. Any team that does not have a 6 year offer on the table isn't at the table.
I think that's how it was, but the longer this is going the more I feel Bregs is at least considering the possibility of a shorter contract if it lands him where he wants to play. If He is not signing anything under 6 years then Toronto and Houston (and perhaps Detroit) is it. Chicago and Boston are priced out already. There's something to them thinking they are still in it.
Right... the idea is to keep the teams you're negotiating with from thinking they are currently priced out. No sir, that's not the case at all. If you've read that somewhere (you haven't), it's patently false. Bregman wants a 6 year (minimum) deal. I can absolutely assure you there are people at the table with shorter than 6 year deals.
When have you ever advised someone to take less money than their peers because it would make an unrelated group of people happy? You haven’t, and you never would. I don’t care how much money they make - no one should settle in a free market to satisfy other people’s demands. Of course the money is outrageous - but that’s the environment where he works. He’s not working at Jiffy Lube. He knows what he’s worth & he knows what his peers make. Stop shaming him for chasing the money he feels he has rightly earned.
That’s different. It’s a free market and he has earned the right to maximize his financial compensation. If the market doesn’t value him the same way he values himself, then he - and not us - can determine his best path forward. But this cry for him to settle because it’s what *we* want him to do is nonsense. He’s entitled to seek maximum value and no one should begrudge him for doing so, and sure-as-heck shouldn’t demand he take less because - again, according to someone else - he has “enough.”
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism from UT-Austin. I understand how reporting is supposed to work, and the current state of journalism because some reporters are willing to cut corners to be the first with a scoop, get clicks on their articles/social media content and fear losing their sources/access to the beats they cover. Alexander’s report last week came from Jon Heyman who is a certified mouthpiece for Scott Boras. I get it. That said, I would hope since Alexander is part of the Houston sports media scene that he didn’t just take the Heyman/Boras report at face value before tweeting the information but did some digging with his own sources to verify the information has validity.
Bregman has multiple 6 year offers on the table, and multiple teams that he is trying to convince to raise their offers to 6 years. If nothing changes he will 100% take one of the 6 year offers. Because of this any offer of less than 6 years has no chance and therefore "not at the table""
Assuming the Astros still have their six-year offer on the table, my uneducated guess is this ultimately comes down to Houston and Detroit. For Bregman to consider a four-year offer that competes with 6 years, 156 million dollars, the AAV would have to be at least 35 million dollars, and that assumes Bregman wants to try to get another contract entering his age-35 season. I don’t see the Cubs nor Red Sox giving him that annual salary.
