ESPN’s MLB analyst Alden Gonzalez recently contributed an interesting Alex Bregman-Boston Red Sox take during Buster Olney’s Baseball Tonight podcast.
While the show was on the topic of Bregman’s ongoing free agency, Gonzalez wondered aloud why people assume that Bregman is going to get the kind of juicy, long-term deal that the third baseman and his agent, Scott Boras, are seeking.
Gonzalez then predicted that Bregman will end up signing a similarly-scaled deal to the one he inked last offseason with the Red Sox.
“I don’t know where that long-term deal is coming from,” Gonzalez said. “I keep going back to this and guys, I don’t know if you agree, but I keep thinking he’s going to end up with the same type of deal that he signed last offseason, which was a shorter-term, higher-AAV deal, maybe some optionality with the player opt-out. I don’t know if teams believe in how well he’s going to age as a 31, 32-year-old third baseman at this point. And I think with the Red Sox, he’s an ideal fit … because of how he fit into that clubhouse.”
Interestingly, Gonzalez also asserted that the Red Sox can easily go in a different direction than Bregman, which contrasts with the prevailing opinion that Boston absolutely must re-sign Bregman after losing out on guys like Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber.
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“The Red Sox have so much versatility on the position player side that they can go out and get like basically any position they want,” Gonzalez continued. “Ketel Marte, to me, fits just as well as Alex Bregman does. If they’re gonna get multiple bats, then great, it makes sense. Otherwise, I don’t know that they have to get an Alex Bregman.”
In tandem with Gonzalez’ remarks, Red Sox-Marte buzz continues to grow louder this week.
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Bregman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox in February, but he opted out of the final two years of that contract following the season. It was an overall successful year for Bregman in Boston, despite a right quadriceps injury sidelining him for significant time, limiting him to 114 games.
Bregman posted a .273 average, 18 home runs, 62 RBI and an .821 OPS, earning his third All-Star nod. He’s now played 10 MLB season, with two World Series titles, a Gold Glove, and a Silver Slugger to decorate his trophy closet with.
Featured image via Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images
