Craig Breslow Breaks Silence After Red Sox Lose Alex Bregman To Cubs

Alex Bregman reportedly agreed to a five-year, $175 million deal with the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, marking the end of his time with the Boston Red Sox.

Bregman was reportedly the Red Sox’s top priority this winter, and they were willing to match the five years the Cubs gave Bregman, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. However, they were outbid on the dollar figure.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow discussed losing Bregman with Cotillo over email. The Red Sox are obviously disappointed that they were unable to reach a deal, but they remain focused on improving their roster.

“Any time you are active in trying to bring a player in, it’s disappointing to lose out,” Bregman told Cotillo on Sunday. “We do this job because we are competitive and we want to deliver a championship to our fans, and falling short in a pursuit is an obstacle to that.”

Despite the fact that the Red Sox lost Bregman, they have made key additions to their roster. Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo and Willson Contreras figure to play key roles next season. However, Breslow noted that the Red Sox are not done looking for ways to improve the team. It was not a Bregman or nothing at all situation for the Red Sox.

“It’s going to sound redundant, but we’ll be open to any way to improve our team,” Breslow told Cotillo. “Free agency is an obvious path, but so are trades. We will try to continue to add offense, but leaning into pitching and defense is another way to boost our win total.”

Bo Bichette is a player the Red Sox have been linked to. He figures to be more expensive than Bregman, but he is younger and one of the best hitters in baseball.

According to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, some in the organization preferred Bichette to Bregman anyway. If the Red Sox miss out on Bichette, who has interest from the Philadelphia Phillies, they could look to shore up their run prevention even more by adding another starting pitcher.