The reporting surrounding many of this winter's star free agents — Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and Cody Bellinger, among others — has been quiet through the first two months of the MLB offseason. But that does not mean that their markets are inactive.
Far from it.
Let’s look at Bregman. After signing a short-term, pillow contract with the Boston Red Sox last season, he had one of the better seasons of his career. He hit .273/.360/.462 with 18 home runs and 62 RBI. He played strong defense. And he established himself as a leader and vital veteran voice in a young Red Sox clubhouse.
For any team hoping to contend for a World Series, Bregman makes sense. He's surely looking for long-term security this winter and for a city and team to spend almost the remainder of his career with. So let’s take a look at the four teams reported to be in on the star infielder and where they stand in the bidding.
The incumbent: Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox make a ton of sense for Bregman. They know exactly what and who he is. An underrated aspect of this is the burden that Bregman can take off the young players, specifically Roman Anthony, to not have to be the savior of the franchise right away. Boston was mindful of that when calling Anthony up, and they should be especially mindful of it going into his first full season.
Still, the Red Sox need to be more aggressive in the bidding for Bregman than they were for, say, Kyle Schwarber. They were never close on Schwarber, and if they want to avoid a repeat with Bregman, they need to pony up.
The long shot: Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona is interested in Bregman. Their interest is sincere. But their chances on Bregman all depend on whether they trade Ketel Marte. If they trade Marte, then Bregman becomes more realistic. If they don’t trade Marte, then it’s almost unimaginable to see Bregman in the desert. I can’t see a scenario in which Arizona is able to have both contracts on the roster.
The sleeping giant: Chicago Cubs
It’s pretty clear in looking at the Cubs’ offseason that their priority was to shore up the bullpen, and they’ve absolutely done that. But they have to do more — a lot more. It’s pretty clear that Kyle Tucker will not return to Chicago, and if that’s the case, they need a star player to replace him. And Bregman is a great candidate to do so.
But will the Cubs splurge to sign Bregman? I’m skeptical. It’s not typically their M.O.
The dark horse: Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays have been connected to Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette this offseason. Bichette should be the priority – he’s younger and Toronto knows what it has in its star infielder – and it’s very likely that Bregman is the fallback if they aren’t able to retain Bichette. Still, Toronto is big-game hunting, and this feels like the offseason they land a big name in free agency.