I personally did not expect that kind of production on an on-going basis, even after getting the extension. Those were absolute monster years not supported by his underlying tools. There's plenty of things that could be used to excuse Bregman's comeback to expectations. -No more juiced ball. Guys with 20-25 HR power are no longer hitting 30+ HR. -No more trash can (gotta imagine it affected him in some way). -injuries -Family. He's admitted at several times being a father exhausted him at several moments and he wasn't/hasn't been able to intensely concentration on baseball like he did when he first came up. -BABIP. Down to .250 this season from .280's during the '18-'19 seasons. All that is to say, he's a really good ball player but he's player a lot closer to a consistently above average guy (3-4fWAR) that he was projected to be. He may pop off an all-star season here and there but he probably won't be in the MVP conversations again. ____ Imagine if the guy with a notably bad eye/discipline had an exceptional eye/discipline. Lol why even bother with that kind of hypothetical.
That’s not quite true, he was always projected to be an elite ball player. https://climbingtalshill.com/posts/the-alex-bregman-of-old-isn-t-coming-back-01h568s0ftxr “Since Bregman's MLB debut in 2016, scouts and media expected him to become one of the leagues best players in the game over the next 2-3 years. I mean, come on, Bregman only spent a little over a year in the minor leagues. It's only natural of his expectations.”
That is partially true. He got his extension before his monster 2019. And, while he isn't the top 5 MVP contender anymore, he still will end up being among the 4-6 best 3B in baseball every (healthy) year. He may have bad games or even weeks but the season is 162 games long and by the end his stats will be there. And those numbers are what a team can expect from a $30M per year player in FA in 2023. (and his AAV is only $20M so- bonus)
If the MLB ever goes to an automated strike zone, and it is coming, either with robo umps or a challenge system, then Bregman goes from a 3-4 WAR player to a 4-5 WAR player
It's more than Oakland.... White Sox are now 3-1 since going 0-3 vs Arlington And tonight, CHI beat the Yankees handily (5-1). The same Yankees the Astros struggled to manage a split with. This past week is the proverbial slap to the Astros' face.
