Astros' Alex Bregman Contract Contains Unusual Structure

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(SportsRadio 610) -- LeBron James' production company working on a docuseries about the Astros' sign-stealing scandal may have been the tipping point for Alex Bregman, who recently cut ties with his agent Brodie Scoffield.
Scoffield's Tidal Sports Group became the baseball arm of Klutch Sports, the agency founded by and that represents James, who also runs the production company, Uninterrupted, behind the docuseries.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Bregman felt betrayed when he learned a fellow Klutch client -- and its most famous one -- would be contributing to a docuseries highlighting the Astros' darkest moment. 
But even before the docuseries, and before The Athletic first reported the sign-stealing scandal in depth last fall, Bregman's contract extension he signed last season raised enough eyebrows.

Last year, the Astros signed Bregman to a five-year, $100 million deal, with a $10 million signing bonus for the 2019 season.

The deal, however, also contains an unusual structure that may have costed Bregman additional money. 

Bregman's five-year term didn't kick in until 2020, and his escalator based on MVP finishes doesn't kick in until 2021. 

So Bregman's second-place MVP finish last season did not lead to future salary increases, which a rival agent described to Rosenthal as a “very, very bad miss.”

While the bigger issue may be Scoffield aligning himself -- and Bregman, by extension -- with the production company tasked with spotlighting the scandal, it's easy to see why Bregman would want to look elsewhere for representation. 

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