Alex Bregman Officially Opts Out

[Matthew Lenz]

The 2025-2026 offseason got underway on Sunday, allowing teams and players to make decisions on options for the 2026 season. To no surprise, Boston Red Sox third basemen swiftly made their decision.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe is reporting that Bregman has opted out of his contract, as was fully expected. Both sides have expressed interest in a reunion for 2026 and beyond.

Bregman finished the year with an OPS of .821 across 114 games. He hit 18 home runs and scored 64 runs, while adding one stolen base. His advanced metrics include a wOBA of .356 and a wRC+ of 125, indicating an above-average performance relative to the league. Bregman produced a total of 0 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and 1 Outs Above Average (OAA). The veteran infielder was acquired by Boston as a free agent in February 2025. In all, his season was worth 3.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

He'll be one of the most sought-after free agents, if not the most, of the offseason. Eugenio Suarez represents another option on the hot corner for teams to pursue. It's previously been reported that the Red Sox will set their sights on Pete Alonso if talks with Bregman fall through.

How much should the Red Sox offer the 32-year-old Bregman? Let us know in the comments! 

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[mvp 78]

3/100

[moonslav59]

120/4

[mvp 78]

5/140 max and that's more than I want to pay.

[Larry Cook]

Pass!  Let someone else have him, 

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

Pass!  Let someone else have him, 

Like the Yankees?🤫

[notin]

34 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Like the Yankees?🤫

The Yankees do have Ryan McMahon, who is an excellent defensive 3b with questionable (but not necessarily horrible) offense and is signed for 2 more years at $32mill.  He might not be easily movable, and he might even be able to take advantage of the right field seats in the Bronx.

With Grisham and Bellinger leaving and some (lots of) questions in the bullpen, is Bregman on their radar?

[Kimmi]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

3/100

No.

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

120/4

No.

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

5/140 max and that's more than I want to pay.

Definitely no.

[Old Red]

31 minutes ago, notin said:

The Yankees do have Ryan McMahon, who is an excellent defensive 3b with questionable (but not necessarily horrible) offense and is signed for 2 more years at $32mill.  He might not be easily movable, and he might even be able to take advantage of the right field seats in the Bronx.

With Grisham and Bellinger leaving and some (lots of) questions in the bullpen, is Bregman on their radar?

I didn’t realize McMahon was under contract for 2 more years for that money.

[Old Red]

25 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

No.

No.

Definitely no.

Bregman signed a more than generous contract by the Red Sox for the right amount of years IMO. Any more than a year added would not be a good idea IMO.

[Hitch]

Baseball America is predicting Alex Bregman — 6 years, $180 million. Um - no. 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Hitch said:

Baseball America is predicting Alex Bregman — 6 years, $180 million. Um - no. 

He's not getting that.

[Hitch]

11 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

He's not getting that.

I'm less sure, but as long as it's not from us, I'm good.

[drewski6]

Im not sure the dude can really even run anymore.

[drewski6]

This is why I want schwarber

Bregman - will get more money and years because he plays defense, but he never really looked healthy to me last year, outside of the beginning and certainly never looked "spry".  The Bregman that ended last year felt like an old man and we're talking 6 years at big money?  Declining defense, declining durability, solid bat

Alonso - I think will get 6-7 years like Bregman , again because he plays 1b - but not well. And yes, sorry, I do think that Masa would be better (defensively). Thats a low bar. Aging, the fact that he plays a bad 1b (anybody can play a bad 1b) means nothing to me, solid bat

Schwarber - considerably better bat than the above 2. Because he doesnt play defense (but would prob be just as good as ALonso if he did and Breg is prob a 1b 10% into his next contract lol) - I think thats going to suppress his value and keep him at 3-4 years. I see him as reasonable because I think other GMs are foolishly scared off by the DH.

[drewski6]

Give me an elite bat at 3-4 years who is a DH over guys who are better suited to be DHs but are forced into the field, who dont have elite bats, at 6-7 years.

[Hitch]

1 minute ago, drewski6 said:

This is why I want schwarber

Bregman - will get more money and years because he plays defense, but he never really looked healthy to me last year, outside of the beginning and certainly never looked "spry".  The Bregman that ended last year felt like an old man and we're talking 6 years at big money?  Declining defense, declining durability, solid bat

Alonso - I think will get 6-7 years like Bregman , again because he plays 1b - but not well. And yes, sorry, I do think that Masa would be better (defensively). Thats a low bar. Aging, the fact that he plays a bad 1b (anybody can play a bad 1b) means nothing to me, solid bat

Schwarber - considerably better bat than the above 2. Because he doesnt play defense (but would prob be just as good as ALonso if he did and Breg is prob a 1b 10% into his next contract lol) - I think thats going to suppress his value and keep him at 3-4 years. I see him as reasonable because I think other GMs are foolishly scared off by the DH.

Not that I disagree, but what do we do with Masa then? Just a sunk $18m cost for the next two years? Try and trade him and eat just half? 

I don't think we can have Schwarber and Masa on this team, not for two years. 

I also think DD will be coming hard for him. 

[drewski6]

Just now, Hitch said:

Not that I disagree, but what do we do with Masa then? Just a sunk $18m cost for the next two years? Try and trade him and eat just half? 

I don't think we can have Schwarber and Masa on this team, not for two years. 

I also think DD will be coming hard for him. 

I teach him how to play 1b and think (unfortunately) Casas is back in May and hurt by June.  Masa/Romy are your 1b platoon.

[Hitch]

1 minute ago, drewski6 said:

I teach him how to play 1b and think (unfortunately) Casas is back in May and hurt by June.  Masa/Romy are your 1b platoon.

I don't see it, but maybe...

I would certainly like Schwarber, but it's an imperfect fit unless Bres can swing his magic trade wand. 

[drewski6]

18m x 2 yrs = 36m

shwarber will get 110m, alonso will get 160m. ALonso is an inferior hitter.

Spending an extra 50m to get an inferior hitter so we can keep masa at DH due to his contract feels like "chasing bad money with good money"

If alonso/schwarber expected contracts at close, that could alter things for me.  But I dont want to pay 2x for alonso when we can get schwarber at half the cost because "DH is locked down"

Id rather just teach masa first base. I know hes not the ideal body for it, but the difference between alonso and masa at 1b from a defensive runs saved, I dont think its a deal breaker. Sure Alonsos reach going to create a couple outs but yoshida might make a few plays that alonso cant once he has some practice.

 

[Hitch]

12 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

18m x 2 yrs = 36m

shwarber will get 110m, alonso will get 160m. ALonso is an inferior hitter.

Spending an extra 50m to get an inferior hitter so we can keep masa at DH due to his contract feels like "chasing bad money with good money"

If alonso/schwarber expected contracts at close, that could alter things for me.  But I dont want to pay 2x for alonso when we can get schwarber at half the cost because "DH is locked down"

Id rather just teach masa first base. I know hes not the ideal body for it, but the difference between alonso and masa at 1b from a defensive runs saved, I dont think its a deal breaker. Sure Alonsos reach going to create a couple outs but yoshida might make a few plays that alonso cant once he has some practice.

 

Really hard to judge. We KNOW that Alonso can play 1st, if not to a great level, but we have no idea what the other two will offer there - Schwarber was dreadful in his small sample size.

Also, they seem to really value flexibility at DH. 

But, I'm certainly not against Schwarber. And I really like him as a person/clubhouse guy.

[mvp 78]

34 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I teach him how to play 1b and think (unfortunately) Casas is back in May and hurt by June.  Masa/Romy are your 1b platoon.

Doesn't seem plausible to just put Masa at 1B. 

[moonslav59]

Trading Masa would likely mean we pay $12-14M of his $18M x 2, unless we add a prospect- maybe a borderline Rule 5 guy like Mullins or Sandlin...maybe a guy like Kelly, Wink, Criswell or Murphy would lower the cash needed and improve the tax line budget.

Dumping part of Hicks' deal could help that, too.

[notin]

19 hours ago, Old Red said:

I didn’t realize McMahon was under contract for 2 more years for that money.

In the interests of avoiding ambiguity, the $32mill was a total and not his yearly salary…

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

In the interests of avoiding ambiguity, the $32mill was a total and not his yearly salary…

$40M was another total.

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

He just wants an expresso deal signed.

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

A lot more teams offering less may not make a difference.