Who Says No: A Red Sox deal for Tarik Skubal
The news doesn't come as a huge surprise, but it does leave the Red Sox with some potentially uncomfortable uncertainty.
According to Jon Heyman, Alex Bregman is planning to opt out of his current contract, which still had two more years remaining on it, paying the 31-year-old $40 million per season. (Some of the money, however, is deferred.)
The path is one Bregman's agent Scott Boras may have hinted at when talking to WEEI.com in September, expousing the merits of heading into a free agent not burdened by the qualifying offer the third baseman carried a year ago.
"The qualifying offer for (Pete) Alonzo or (Matt) Chapman or (Blake) Snell, teams have gotten together and said for a 30-or-whatever-year-old player and said we’re not going to give them a long-term contract we would normally give because we’re not going to give up the draft pick and the long-term," he said. "Now that that is over with, obviously, it’s much easier for teams to plan and look at how they sign their players because there is no detriment to it. It’s only a positive add.
"I can tell you in Chapman’s case, Snell’s case, Correa’s case, the minute the qualifying offer was gone the market expanded probably from a couple of teams wanting to do short-term to 10 or 15 teams wanting to do long-term contracts. We saw that in every case."
The hope for Bregman and Boras is that being free and clear of the qualifying offer, along with his contributions to a postseason team (the 2025 Red Sox), the chances of getting a longer-term deal this time around will be more realistic.
Heyman lists the Tigers, who were a finalist for Bregman's services last offseason, the Astros, and even maybe the Royals as potential suitors.
As of July, the Red Sox had not engaged with Bregman about a possible contract extension, per a team source. Boras also stated there was no interest from the player's perspective to approach the team about a new deal in the final month of the season with the priority being the team's postseason push.
There is a very real possibility that Bregman lands back with the Red Sox, with both the player and the team understanding how well the fit was throughout 2025. Despite a seven-week absence due to a quad injury, and a second half which saw a significant offensive downturn, the righty hitter did land with an above-average season on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, Bregman hit .273 with a .821 OPS and 18 home runs in 114 games, contributing to a WAR of 3.5. He finished with three outs above average, which was eighth-best among third basemen in MLB.
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In other Red Sox news, amateur scouting director Devin Pearson is leaving the organization to take the assistant GM job with the Nationals under former Red Sox exec Paul Toboni. According to Joe Doyle, Red Sox are promoting assistant amateur scouting director Jake Bruml to replace Pearson.