Good list. Taylor Ward could be another option, and either Masataka Yoshida or George Springer could become options if their clubs are willing to pay enough of their remaining contracts.
Been saying it all along. If Bregman returns to the Astros it's because of the money. Not because Houston was always the only place he wanted to be.
It’s just hard for me to envision other contenders (especially in the AL and even moreso in the AL West) doing anything that might improve the Astros 2025 roster at this point in the offseason.
I don’t think the Angels view themselves as playoff contenders. A good season for them is playing .500 baseball. As for Yoshida, the Red Sox have a log jam with a bunch of elite prospects ready for chances in the big leagues soon (Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer) and they are very left-handed heavy in their lineup. Trading Yoshida could be addition by subtraction since it opens up a spot for Roman Anthony.
Wherever Bregman signs, it'll be because of the money. What else could it be? He was never going to take less money to stay here unless the "less" was marginal. He's a free agent on the back-half of his career - why would he settle for less money?
Because he's not worth a 200 million dollar contract? Maybe that's why he'd settle? He's delusional if he thinks he's worth that.
This is stupid. Jim crane is not an idiot. He would not and has not had to “delay or forego other plans”. He dealt for Paredes. He signed Walker. You seem to believe Crane was stupid, let the Bregs situation paralyze him, all other impact FAs signed elsewhere, and Crane is left with no options. Also, how exactly how is Cranes offer being used “against him” to the detriment of the Astros future success. Crane either has an offer on the table or not. He has decided how much he wants to pay for Bregs and how long he wants to leave that open. Is there an opportunity cost that you can identify? Of course not. You’re just posting for the sake of posting. Hell, maybe there is no offer on the table, but Crane is letting Boras and Bregs use the threat of an Astros offer to drive up the prices for his competitors. That smacks of evil genius burning the salary capacity of other potential contenders. The only goodwill Bregman burns is from impatient fans who fail to realize Bregmans slow process has done next to nothing detrimental to the Astros interests. This post is shallow end of the pool, with the warm pee pee from toddlers. But at least this post doesn’t have antisemetic crap in it, so there is that.
I think Crane and Brown have a hard on for Robert Jr. It's a matter of if Chicago gets a ridiculous offer from someone else and when they do it.
I actually think the Angels are very underrated. They have 6 really good hitters and 3 guys who project to be about average, plus some solid bench players. They added Kikuchi and Hendricks to their rotation which includes Anderson and Soriano, both of whom were pretty good last season, and Caden Dana is a very very good prospect. They have a good BP with Jansen and Joyce and several good lefties. They are probably 1 really good SP away from being in the mix to win the division. They are not a tier one team, but they are a legit contender if things break their way. Earlier this offseason they were 150:1 to win it all and I thought that was a big discount. If Trout stays healthy they will be above .500 for sure. All that is to say that I don’t see them trading away Ward, especially to the Astros. Now your point about Yoshida is good. I could see him being moved. But I would have thought they’d have pursued the harder earlier in the offseason if it’s something they really wanted to do.
You are a lot more bullish on the Angels than any projection model and I am. PECOTA has them projected for 75 wins and ZIPS has them projected for 70. Also, Mike Trout staying healthy for a full season is like believing unicorns are real at this point. I have to see it to believe it.
It's being reported they already have an inury, although I didn't get to hear who it was. EDIT: It's Rendon, of course.
I respect Bregman's contributions to this team. I, also appreciate Crane's and the different other FO contributions. The whole loyalty BS is just that for both sides. It's no difference than any salary negotiation in amy other business. The difference is that the negotiations are public. I'm impatient and what to Bregman to sh*t or get off the pot and don't even think he is worth the package he's already been offered. What I think doesn't matter and either way this goes, I won't it against anybody. It's just business.
You sounds like you haven't negotiated much in your life. If you've got an offer in hand, and you shop it, then you've created a floor for your pricing... at the expense of the party that made the offer (who must wait or set the money aside while you shop it... if they extend the courtesy of response time on the offer). You would likely extend that courtesy to a player like Bregman, given his historical contributions to the team. So that money in his contract is tied up if you let him shop it... At the high end of the business world, it's rude and dishonorable to shop an offer like this and for this long. Some people do not care -- they are all about trying to max out their money at the expense of relationships. From the outside, it appears as though Bregman/Boras are behaving that way. Oftentimes, this is a short-sighted approach that doesn't max out long-term value. But Crane is very savvy and I would expect and hope that they put a shot clock on the offer -- that's good business. Did the Astros sit out the bidding on Cody Bellinger or Max Fried? Would they have handled Kyle Tucker differently if they weren't reserving money for Bregman? Would they have gone after Pete Alonso rather than Christian Walker? We don't know -- but "waiting on Bregman" was a variable that they had to manage around -- that's undeniable. I've been in many negotiations involving more money than the proposed Bregman contract. Maybe you negotiated the Subaru dealer down 3% on your 2020 Outback? GOOD DAY
If the Astros don’t plan on using the money there is no reason to put a timeline on it. I would argue he’s not worth the current contract, but the Astros obviously have a different opinion.
Because the Astros have yet to sign a player to such a deal? Bregman signed that extension back after 2018. Most of us work jobs that see salary increases over 7 years time just based on natural market forces in/of itself (let alone if somebody is still one of the top performers at their job). Every other league has seen salary increase over 7 years time for the "average" player, let alone a top 5 at his position type. Bregman making $30 million/year the last 2 years on an extension that was signed in 2018... and now getting an offer from the Astros that was less than that... would undoubtedly rub any competitive person the wrong way. I think it speaks more as to how baseball economics has gone the way of the dodo for most of its players (minus the Ohtani's and Soto's). Mid-market teams have become smart. Small market teams have gotten even cheaper. And mid-tier to upper-tier players have either patiently waited for their first initial payout (Springer/Correa) or they signed an earlier extension with the hope of another extension that would take them all the way through... or some of the younger stars now signing the 10+ year deals. The odds of a lengthy work stoppage after 2026 are as high as ever... with concerns as high as they were in 94 that this could be back-breaking for the game... but somebody's going to have to get these parties to find a modern-day solution in line with what the other leagues have figured out because the current system isn't going to benefit the majority of the players while some fan bases are going to completely lose count at how many rebuilds/reloads or just garbage seasons a cheap team can throw at them.
While I appreciate what he's done for the organization and recognize that he can take as long as he wants to make a decision, the delaying of a decision for this long is making me question the team leader label Altuve gave him. He has his offers and the Astros offer is apparently in line with the others. This should not take that long. While I'm sure part of it is Boras playing his usual games, he works for the client. If the client wants a deal done, a deal will get done (see Altuve). As it stands, ight now he's simply being a distraction. Take the Astros deal and probably retire an Astro or take a shorter deal (if it actually exists) and hope that somebody will be desperate to throw tens of millions per year in three or four years at a guy in his mid-30s.
The fact is, you have no idea whether they waited on a Bregman or whether it was a variable they had to manage around. Undeniable is another silly word to use in this context. As for “high end of the business world” negotiating experience, you must have operated in something less than an open market and also left millions on the table. Bregman is simply letting the market play out. There has been no evidence that his long process has cost him money or leverage — like someone pulling an offer because they signed someone else or no longer wants to do business with Alex. If an owner gets fed up and pulls out of the Bregman market, then yeah, he has potentially lost leverage and maybe a destination he wanted. But there is no evidence of that. You don’t seem to have the stomach for big boy business.
If this was true, signing a short-term deal to play in either ball park in Detroit or Chicago is incredibly stupid. Kiss any shot at maximizing over $156/6 goodbye and say hello to being traded in a year or two. Unless he wants to live in Chicago or Detroit then have at it.
