Exec Expects This Team To Make Biggest Offer To Alex Bregman

If the Boston Red Sox want to sign Alex Bregman, they might have to worry about a division rival making things difficult for them.

Bregman arguably is the best player still available in free agency, but he is staying patient with hopes of receiving the exact contract offer he covets. It remains to be seen if those ideal terms ever will come across Bregman’s desk, but one MLB executive has a pretty good idea of where the richest offer will come from.

“Now the Astros have moved on and the Red Sox, Tigers and Blue Jays all have varying degrees of interest,” ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote in a column published Thursday. “One of the execs speculates that in the end, the Jays are in position to offer the most money, given their level of desperation. Now Bregman has choices to make.”

It’s unclear if Bregman would take a cheaper contract in a more desirable location instead of going to Toronto for top dollar. Boston, for instance, might be an easier sell to Bregman, who would be able to reunite with Alex Cora and play in one of baseball’s premier markets.

There might not be an imminent answer to those questions, though. Bregman’s agent, Scott Boras, has never had a problem riding things out as far as possible.