Here’s four takeaways on free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman’s five-year, $175 million free-agent agreement with the Chicago Cubs:
How the Cubs should follow up their big signing
Earlier this week, I wrote that the Cubs needed to sign one of the Big Four remaining free-agent hitters — Bregman, Bo Bichette, Cody Bellinger or Kyle Tucker. In that column I said, “If recent history is any indication, the Cubs aren’t a good bet to outbid the other large-market teams linked to one or more of those players.”
Well, good for the Cubs — they proved me wrong, continuing what now looks like a terrific offseason. Before signing Bregman, they spent more than $30 million on five-free agent relievers, traded for Miami Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera and brought back first baseman Tyler Austin from Japan for $1.25 million.
Among the free-agent hitters, Bregman was the Cubs’ first choice. They were badly outbid for him last offseason and acquired one year of Tucker only by parting with a huge package — infielder Isaac Paredes, right-hander Hayden Wesneski and infielder/outfielder Cam Smith.
Going big for Bregman is more like it, and now the Cubs need to keep the rest of their club together, holding rather than trading second baseman Nico Hoerner and shifting Matt Shaw into a super-utility role.
More validation for Scott Boras’ short-term strategy
Bregman becomes the latest Scott Boras client to hit the jackpot after opting out of a short-term, high-dollar arrangement. Combine this deal with the $40 million Bregman earned in his one season with the Boston Red Sox, and his total comes to six years, $215 million.
Deferrals lowered the present-day value of his Red Sox contract. The Cubs agreement includes $70 million in deferrals, which is expected to lower the present-day value to the $150M to $155M range, according to sources briefed on the details. Regardless, Bregman ended up with a better result than he reportedly turned down with the Detroit Tigers last offseason – six years, $171.5 million.
Other recent Boras clients to follow similar paths included third baseman Matt Chapman (one year, $18 million with the San Francisco Giants, then a six-year, $151 million extension); left-hander Blake Snell (one year, $32 million with the Giants, then five years, $182 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers); and first baseman Pete Alonso (one year, $30 million with the New York Mets, then five years, $155 million with the Baltimore Orioles).
Of those deals, only Snell’s included deferrals.
Boras’ strategy did not work out as well for left-hander Jordan Montgomery, who signed a one-year, $25 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, exercised a $22.5 million player option and is now a free agent coming off his second Tommy John surgery. Montgomery ultimately switched agents, leaving Boras for Wasserman.
Next up for Boras: Bellinger, who earned $55 million the past two seasons on a deal he originally signed with the Cubs, then a $5 million buyout when he declined his player option with the New York Yankees.
Bregman’s deal could impact Cody Bellinger’s demands
Bellinger is 30. The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty reported he wants seven years. Another of Boras’ 30-year-old free agents, right-hander Dylan Cease, earlier this offseason signed a seven-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Bregman turns 32 in March. Snell was 32 in the first season of his Dodgers deal. Their respective five-year contracts will take them through their age 36 seasons, the same age Cease will be when his deal expires.
Like it or not, this is Boras’ rationale for wanting seven years for Bellinger, an idea the Yankees continue to resist. Will Bellinger get seven? It’s anyone’s guess. Does he warrant seven? Maybe not. But Boras is not going to relent until later in the offseason, if he does at all.
Red Sox and crowded field for Bo Bichette
Before news of the Cubs’ big signing broke, Bregman was a hot topic Saturday at the Red Sox’s winter gathering, Fenway Fest. Sox outfielder Roman Anthony told reporters, “I would love to have him back. I love Breggy. He was a huge part of my success and a lot of the young guys, and not only the young guys but many of the guys in the clubhouse.”
Now Bregman is gone from Boston, leaving free agent Bo Bichette as an obvious Sox target. Bichette, though, also is a focus of the Philadelphia Phillies, who will meet with him Monday on a video call.
Depending upon how the market evolves, the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers also could emerge as possibilities, as could a reunion with the Blue Jays.
Tucker and Bellinger are not fits for the Red Sox, who already have a surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders. So it’s entirely possible the Sox, the only team yet to sign a major-league free agent, will get shut out on a big-time hitter. And while they have traded for first baseman Willson Contreras and right-handers Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, part of their logic for moving on from Devers was to create greater payroll flexibility for a free agent such as Bregman or Bichette.
Red Sox Nation awaits the fulfillment of that promise.
