There hasn't been much of an update on the Alex Bregman front for the Chicago Cubs.
Some accounts have the Cubs as the front-runner for Bregman but it also seems that Scott Boras is desperately trying to find a long-term deal for the All-Star third baseman. On the heels of Boras being forced to settle with a two-year deal between Pete Alonso and the New York Mets worth $56MM, MLB's most notorious agent may be trying to save face with his Bregman negotiations.
The issue, and perhaps the biggest reason why the Cubs may be in the driver's seat for Bregman, is that there does not appear to be a legitimate long-term offer on the table. While recent reports have suggested the Astros have a new offer on the table, topping their previous six-year offer, it seems that Houston may be trying to do a solid for their former franchise star. If the Astros did have a long-term offer on the table and it was better than their previous six-year offer worth $156MM, conventional wisdom would suggest that the deal would've been agreed to at this stage of the offseason. It's possible the Astros are leaking these offers as a way to help Bregman land a long-term deal elsewhere.
Time may be on the Cubs' side in Alex Bregman pursuit
A deal that seems unlikely to be on the table from the other teams interested in the veteran third baseman. The longer Bregman remains on the market, the more the odds may favor the Cubs. Along those lines, The Athletic's Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma shared some insight with regard to why Boras and Bregman may be eyeing the Cubs.
"Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer doesn’t have an unlimited budget, but he’s managed the payroll to the point where he can keep talking with agent Scott Boras about Alex Bregman, the unsigned All-Star third baseman who may view Wrigley Field as a very comfortable landing spot.," Sharma and Mooney offer up in their latest for The Athletic.
There has been some question with regard to how Bregman's offense may translate to Wrigley Field. One lazy thought exercise taking place is national insiders taking a look at the park factor of Wrigley Field during the 2024 season and shouting to the clouds why Bregman wouldn't be a fit. The context lacking in that exercise is that the park factor of Wrigley Field in 2024 wasn't just an outlier; it was uncharacteristically inaccurate when taking a look at how Wrigley Fields has played during the summer throughout the decades. All it takes is a quick glance through Bregman's spray chart to understand why he may view Wrigley Field as a "comfortable landing spot".
