The Astros have known as re-signing Alex Bregman their high offseason precedence. Whether or not that’ll occur stays to be seen, however Jon Heyman of the New York Submit writes that Houston has made a proposal to their longtime third baseman. It’s unclear whether or not another groups have made a proper proposal, however Heyman experiences that Bregman’s camp has additionally fielded curiosity from the Tigers and Crimson Sox.
Phrases of the Astros’ proposal aren’t recognized. If Houston goes to retain Bregman, it’d in all probability require the most important funding in franchise historical past. Their earlier organizational excessive is the five-year, $151MM Jose Altuve extension from 2018. Bregman has an honest shot at six or seven years at greater than $25MM yearly. He’ll presumably view Matt Chapman’s latest six-year, $151MM extension as the ground and will look to beat $200MM.
Houston basic supervisor Dana Brown mentioned early within the offseason that the Astros could have to creatively handle the books, probably by buying and selling a veteran or two who’s enjoying on a notable wage. Proprietor Jim Crane mentioned earlier this week that the crew has the pliability to exceed the luxurious tax threshold for a second straight 12 months.
That’d primarily be a prerequisite to re-signing Bregman. RosterResource calculates Houston’s aggressive stability tax quantity within the $234MM vary. That’s not far under the $241MM base threshold. Even when the Astros commerce veteran setup man Ryan Pressly and offload his $14MM wage, a Bregman contract will ship them previous the CBT mark. They’re additionally on the lookout for assist at first base and will strive for a extra reasonably priced bullpen pickup in the event that they deal Pressly.
That is the primary direct tie between Bregman and the Tigers. That has been a longstanding speculative match with former Astros supervisor A.J. Hinch main the cost in Motown. Detroit’s third base combine is unsettled. Matt Vierling, Zach McKinstry and prospect Jace Jung all took an honest variety of at-bats on the place. Vierling and McKinstry are multi-positional gamers. Third base is the clearest match for the 24-year-old Jung, who has 34 video games of main league expertise. If the Tigers had been to land Bregman, Jung might push Spencer Torkelson for taking part in time at first base. He’d even be a possible commerce chip as Detroit seems to be to solidify the rotation behind Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson.
Funds are the a lot larger impediment. Whereas Detroit has run payrolls north of $200MM previously, these got here when the late Mike Ilitch was working the franchise. The Tigers have dramatically decreased spending since Christopher Ilitich’s possession tenure started in 2017. A lot of that got here amidst a rebuild that was firmly closed by Detroit’s late-season run to the AL Division Collection, so they may loosen the purse strings this winter. The Tigers solely have round $80MM on subsequent 12 months’s payroll, in accordance with RosterResource, practically $20MM under this previous season’s Opening Day mark. They need to be lively on the free agent market, however a Bregman deal would nearly definitely high the $140MM Javier Báez contract as Detroit’s largest below Christopher Ilitch possession.
The Crimson Sox seem extra probably than both the Astros or Tigers to make an enormous free agent splash. Boston brass continues to forecast an aggressive winter. A strike for a high beginning pitcher is a clearer match than a run at Bregman. Heyman suggests the Sox might transfer Rafael Devers throughout the diamond to first base to accommodate Bregman. That’d push Triston Casas to designated hitter and presumably drive Masataka Yoshida off the roster.
The better answer could be to go away Devers at third base for an additional season and deploy Bregman on the keystone. The Sox had one of many least productive second base teams in MLB this 12 months. Bregman has barely performed second base due to Altuve’s presence in Houston, however agent Scott Boras mentioned on the GM Conferences that the star infielder was prepared to slip to the appropriate facet of the infield if obligatory.
Bregman declined a qualifying provide, so the Tigers and Sox would forfeit a decide in the event that they had been to signal him. Detroit would lose its third-highest decide in subsequent 12 months’s draft. Boston would relinquish its second-highest decide and $500K from its worldwide bonus allotment. The Sox’s penalty is larger as a result of they don’t obtain income sharing, whereas the Tigers do. Houston wouldn’t hand over something to re-sign their very own free agent, although they’d go up the possibility to gather a compensation decide after the fourth spherical if Bregman walks.
