Red Sox sign Alex Bregman

[Jasonbay44]

 

[Duran Is The Man]

just saw that on X. insane.

 

[Tedballgame]

What an over pay. At least it’s only three years.
 

[notin]

I was saying all along they’d sign him.  Granted the AAV shocked me.

Now hopefully he doesn’t play 2b…

[sk7326]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

I was saying all along they’d sign him.  Granted the AAV shocked me.

Now hopefully he doesn’t play 2b…

Looks like they budged on AAV for a shorter deal ... given how far under the tax line they were, I'd call that prudent.

[harmony]

Will the Red Sox lose draft picks and international money for signing Alex Bregman?

[d-money]

Well at least it’s only 3 years but a lot of dinero for sure. 

[harmony]

Perhaps Masataka Yoshida will play left field (with Triston Casas at first base and Rafael Devers at designated hitter).

[Jasonbay44]

 

[Hugh2]

Odds are this will be less of an overpay than if they went to 6 years with him.

the fact that it’s 3 years is important.  The money comes off the books after that magical three years and you’re not paying for him in his mid to late 30’s

if he just replicates what he’s done the last few years they’re overpaying by about $5 million a year.  Let’s just hope they do the smart thing and plug him at 3B.

 

Ill now take my victory lap for predicting the Sox budget would go over $220

[Hugh2]

3 minutes ago, harmony said:

Perhaps Masataka Yoshida will play left field (with Triston Casas at first base and Rafael Devers at designated hitter).

Doubt it

[Jasonbay44]

 

[Hitch]

2 hours ago, Jasonbay44 said:

 

It blows my mind we're going to play him 2nd base. They may as well trade Grissom now. He's done.

Be interesting to know more about the deferred money.

[jdc69]

Good. Money is no object I'm guessing but the years was just right.

[moonslav59]

Maybe we can find a taker for Yoshida, but that is likely near impossible, unless we pay all but $12-15M of the $54M owed.

I bet we play Bregman at 2B to start the season, but we better see Devers getting a look at 1B in ST'ing. (I hope he takes it seriously and does not pout.)

To me, Bregman at 3B maximizes his value and helps the team way more than at 2B. I'd even sacrifice some LF defense to allow Casas & Devers to share 1B/DH.

1. L Duran CF

2. R Bregman 3B

3. L Casas DH/1B

4. L Devers 1B/DH

5. R Story SS

6. L Yoshida/ R Refsnyder LF

7. R Campbell 2B (maybe moves to 2nd or 5th by mid season)

8. L Abreu/R Rafaela RF

9. R Wong/R Narvaez C

Utility: DHam  (Romy/Grissom/Anthony/Mayer in AAA)

[mvp 78]

9 hours ago, Tedballgame said:

What an over pay. At least it’s only three years.
 

I'd rather they give a player insane AAV's over a short deal than go long on an older player. 

[moonslav59]

35 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'd rather they give a player insane AAV's over a short deal than go long on an older player. 

I hear you. He'll be 33 for year 3 of this deal, assuming no opt-out. Age 34 is often a down year for many aging players. 

If the $171M/6 Detroit off was accurate, that would have meant paying him $$51M/3 over his age 34, 35 and 36 seasons at $17M per. That amount might not be too bad, especially if contracts keep going up and up, but this does look safer.

He must think he is going to age well and get another good deal. I could see him have a monster year in '25 and opt out.

Career OPS: .848.

Career at Fenway: 1.240 in 98 PAs (7 Hrs x 6= 42 in less than 600 PAs.)

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I hear you. He'll be 33 for year 3 of this deal, assuming no opt-out. Age 34 is often a down year for many aging players. 

If the $171M/6 Detroit off was accurate, that would have meant paying him $$51M/3 over his age 34, 35 and 36 seasons at $17M per. That amount might not be too bad, especially if contracts keep going up and up, but this does look safer.

He must think he is going to age well and get another good deal. I could see him have a monster year in '25 and opt out.

I could see him still getting 3/51 in a few years. Would he opt out after this year? Maybe if he has a big year in '25 and believe the lack of a QO will give him a really good deal. 

[moonslav59]

10 hours ago, harmony said:

Perhaps Masataka Yoshida will play left field (with Triston Casas at first base and Rafael Devers at designated hitter).

To keep Devers happy, they might allow him the chance to play 1B and not DH, if he prefers that, but my guess is, Bregman plays 2B.

Cora did the same with Story to 2B.

[Hitch]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

To keep Devers happy, they might allow him the chance to play 1B and not DH, if he prefers that, but my guess is, Bregman plays 2B.

Cora did the same with Story to 2B.

If they move Devers - I do think it will be at least to be playing 1B half the time, rather than full time DH.

[mvp 78]

I saw a writer say "some say Bregman might play SS" and I just wanted to close my laptop. On the depth chart, I'd put Bregman at SS behind Story, Mayer, Rafaela, Hamilton, Campbell and Romy. 

[Bellhorn04]

I think there must be a plan already in place.

I mean, this signing comes as a surprise to us, but it's been a real possibility for the team for quite a while now.  

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I think there must be a plan already in place.

I mean, this signing comes as a surprise to us, but it's been a real possibility for the team for quite a while now.  

Cora went to the DR earlier this offseason. I assume he met with Raffy while he was there. Raffy has been in camp for a while now. Maybe things are happening we don't know about? Maybe they aren't?

[Hitch]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Cora went to the DR earlier this offseason. I assume he met with Raffy while he was there. Raffy has been in camp for a while now. Maybe things are happening we don't know about? Maybe they aren't?

Breslow said rather pointedly the other day that the most important thing is to keep Devers healthy (while discussing where he'd play), as he's so vital to the teams offence.  So I hold out hope that was the prelude to him moving.

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, Hitch said:

Breslow said rather pointedly the other day that the most important thing is to keep Devers healthy (while discussing where he'd play), as he's so vital to the teams offence.  So I hold out hope that was the prelude to him moving.

I heard that he kind of changed his tone, but didn't hear the quote. Interesting. Cora apparently said something similar, which is why they want Yoshida playing LF more.

[moonslav59]

30 minutes ago, Hitch said:

If they move Devers - I do think it will be at least to be playing 1B half the time, rather than full time DH.

Yes. I have suggested a 1B/DH share that would allow both and to play 160+ games, if healthy.

I don't think Devers wants to sit on the bench for half the game. I also think, he can and will become a better defender at 1B than Casas is, now.

[harmony]

47 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

To keep Devers happy, they might allow him the chance to play 1B and not DH, if he prefers that, but my guess is, Bregman plays 2B.

Cora did the same with Story to 2B.

Trevor Story provides an interesting comp.

Story was 29 years, five months and 11 days old in March 2022 when the Red Sox signed the two-time All Star infielder to a six-year, $140 million contract.

Alex Bregman is 30 years, 10 months and 20 days old as the Red Sox are expected to sign the two-time All Star infielder to a three-year, $120 million contract.

At the time of his signing, Story had posted 26.8 bWAR in 745 MLB games while Bregman has posted 39.6 bWAR in 1,111 games. Per 100 games Story had posted 3.597 bWAR and Bregman 3.537 bWAR.

Regardless, the Red Sox lineup is stronger this morning than it was yesterday morning.

 

 

[mvp 78]

Bregman '24:

1st half OPS 730

2nd half OPS 833

8/5 - end of season 918 OPS

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, harmony said:

Trevor Story provides an interesting comp.

Story was 29 years, five months and 11 days old in March 2022 when the Red Sox signed the two-time All Star infielder to a six-year, $140 million contract.

Alex Bregman is 30 years, 10 months and 20 days old as the Red Sox are expected to sign the two-time All Star infielder to a three-year, $120 million contract.

At the time of his signing, Story had posted 26.8 bWAR in 745 MLB games while Bregman has posted 39.6 bWAR in 1,111 games. Per 100 games Story had posted 3.597 bWAR and Bregman 3.537 bWAR.

Regardless, the Red Sox lineup is stronger this morning than it was yesterday morning.

To me, Story should have played SS, done- just as Bregman should play 3B- day one.

Devers needs to think of the team needs. If he cannot see the benefit of moving positions, he drops in my respect level- bigtime. (Not that it matters what I think.)

[FredLynn]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

To keep Devers happy, they might allow him the chance to play 1B and not DH, if he prefers that, but my guess is, Bregman plays 2B.

Cora did the same with Story to 2B.

Bregman is a huge upgrade defensively at 3B. Devers belongs at 1B/DH. Too bad if he doesn't like it.