The Boston Red Sox still haven't made the splash signing they heavily implied was coming. With each passing day, the pressure mounts to go out and do it.
Sep 22, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman (2) celebrates with third base coach Gary Pettis (8) after hitting a home run during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
Though they traded for star pitcher Garrett Crochet, which quieted the din of fans clamoring for a big move to improve the roster, the Red Sox still have holes to plug. And with more than $60 million to spare before entering the luxury tax penalty threshold, they have lots of capital to get a deal done.
Alex Bregman, the Houston Astros' longtime third baseman, is a free agent known to be at least under consideration for this Boston team. The two-time Silver Slugger might be the best position player still on the board after Juan Soto signed last week with the New York Mets.
On Monday, Jon Morosi of MLB Network gave the Red Sox roughly a 50-50 chance of landing Bregman, citing the incumbent Astros as their main competition.
"There is at least as much of a chance of Bregman going to Boston as Bregman going to Houston," Morosi said (via Michael Shapiro of Chron.com). "And let's remember the essential reason why Red Sox loom as a possible candidate to invest heavily in someone like Alex Bregman: they made a big offer to Soto, made a big offer to Fried, signed neither of them, and then addressed a rotation vacancy by acquiring Garrett Crochet."
"Clearly, there is still a strong capacity for the Red Sox to sign a major free agent, and that free-agent could eventually be Alex Bregman."
Bregman has been one of the best third basemen in the sport since the Astros' first World Series title in 2017, and he's well within his rights to demand his reported $200 million target price. But the two-time All-Star's fit with Boston is a complicated one.
Manager Alex Cora has extolled his abilities to change positions, and many have speculated that he'd slot in as the Opening Day second baseman. But he's a superior defender to Rafael Devers at third base, and if both are going to be around for the rest of the decade, it makes little sense to sacrifice defense for seniority.
Here's the situation where a Bregman signing makes sense: either Triston Casas gets traded and Devers moves to first (a possibility that keeps getting brought up, whether fans are in favor of it or not), or Devers moves to designated hitter, and Masataka Yoshida gets traded.
