On Wednesday night, news broke that the Red Sox had reportedly agreed to terms with former Astros third baseman Alex Bregman on a three-year, $120 million contract, reuniting the two-time World Series champion with his former bench coach Alex Cora in Boston.
The addition of Bregman is the capper on an offseason that saw the Red Sox front office operate in a way more reminiscent of the early days of John Henry’s ownership, as the team made deals to bring aboard big name starting pitchers Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler, and were a part of the free agent negotiations for mega star Juan Soto - reportedly offering the now-Met a 15-year deal “in the neighborhood of” $700 million.
They’re not quite the Dodgers, and a flirtation with signing a superstar didn’t exactly make “Truck Day” a place to be seen in 2025, but it’s signs of life for an ownership group that has now spent half-a-decade more concerned with avoiding the luxury tax than actually fielding a World Series-contending roster on Opening Day.
Does this newfound pep in Henry’s step mean more moves could follow before the 2025 season gets underway?
Conventional wisdom around the Bregman situation was that if the Sox were able to sign the 30-year-old gold glover, they would be out of the sweepstakes for Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado. With Bregman having the ability to play both second and third, and with the organization insistent on the idea of Rafael Devers remaining at third base moving forward, trading for a player like Arenado felt redundant.
But on Thursday’s Jones & Keefe, WEEI’s Rich Keefe broke down a scenario that would still make a trade for Arenado make sense for Boston.
“I guess there is a scenario where you put [Arenado] at third, and Bregman’s just still playing second, and Devers is the DH in that scenario, right?” asked Keefe. “Where, [Masataka] Yoshida’s gone, or just not the everyday DH.”
“Hadn’t thought about that,” said WEEI’s Adam Jones. “I was like, ‘If you’re getting Arenado, then Bregman isn’t at third, so what’s the point of that?’”
“Keep him at second, and Arenado plays third,” Keefe jumped in to answer Jones’ rhetorical question. “I think I just blew your brain.”
“You kind of did,” said Jones. “OK - that’s still not what I was thinking. What’s that gonna cost you? Still not much, right? Minor prospects, some money.”
“It seemed like that deal was - if they didn’t get Bregman, if Bregman ended up in Detroit or whatever, don’t you think they just would’ve gotten [Arenado]?” asked Keefe. “He doesn’t have the second-base-flexibility, they would have had to figure something else out, and who knows who would’ve been the starting second baseman.”
“I would feel a lot differently about Arenado if he’s in addition to Bregman than in-place of Bregman,” said Jones. “And so, that might be one where I really have to see what they gave up. Like, I don’t think it’s going to cost you a premium prospect, so I don’t think it would bother me. But let me reserve the right to change my mind until I see what the actual deal was.
“But I think now that Bregman’s here, I’m way more on-board with if they want to go over-the-top and add [Arenado], and get Devers the hell off of third base. And now that’s your reason to play Bregman as second? I’m more OK with Bregman at second if you have an all-time defensive third baseman like Arenado at third, versus Devers who stinks there.”
At 33 years old, Arenado is a 10-time Gold Glove winner at third base, and a shoo-in for the hall of fame once he calls it a career.
A .285 career hitter, Arenado also brings along a legit bat to go with his all-time great glove. He’s a five-time Silver Slugger Award winner, leading the National League in home runs three times while still a member of the Colorado Rockies. During that run, he also led the NL in RBI twice, and is widely regarded as one of the five best players in the history of the franchise.
His 341 career home runs is good for sixth-most among active players, five more than Bryce Harper and 10 more than J.D. Martinez. He has 1,826 career hits, and 1,132 career RBI.
While his power numbers were down in 2024 - hitting the fewest home runs of his career (16) for a season in which he made over 600 plate appearances - he still maintained an on-base percentage of .325, scoring 70 runs of his own while driving in another 71 RBI.
Simply put - Arenado can still play, and a change of scenery might be what he needs to recapture the elite levels we saw from him as recently as 2022, where he finished 3rd in NL MVP voting.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for all the latest on the Red Sox as Spring Training gets underway.
UPDATE - On Saturday morning, the Red Sox officially announced the signing of Bregman in a press release.