MLB Rumors: Phillies-Red Sox trade, Pete Alonso buzz, Bregman extension?

MLB Rumors: Astros will at least try to extend Alex Bregman

The Houston Astros made one of, if not the most surprising move of the offseason by signing Josh Hader to a five-year deal worth $95 million. The Hader addition gives the Astros the best late-game trio any bullpen has to offer with the southpaw joining right-handers Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu.

While the Astros become even scarier with Hader on board for 2024, questions immediately emerged about the future of the organization. Both Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman were slated to hit free agency at the end of this upcoming season, so their futures suddenly appeared to be in jeopardy. Houston quickly changed that with Altuve by signing him to a five-year extension, and according to GM Dana Brown, Bregman could be the next Astro for life.

Brown said he doesn't know when this will happen, but at some point, he's going to make an extension offer to their star third baseman. Bregman has signed an extension with Houston before so it's not unreasonable to expect him to ink another one, however, this one will be far more lucrative than the five-year deal worth $100 million he signed ahead of the 2020 season. At 29 years old, Bregman will want this to be his monster payday.

Bregman is obviously a player Houston would love to keep around for the long haul, but the question is how desperate are they to get that done? Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander, and Ryan Pressly are all set to hit free agency after the 2025 season. Tucker and Valdez in particular are just as important, if not more important, to keep around long-term than Bregman.

If Houston is willing to pay anyone whatever it takes, then a Bregman extension is a no-brainer. If not, Brown might be coming to Bregman with an offer he might deem to be less than what he's worth. If the Astros are unable to extend him, he might be the next George Springer or Carlos Correa rather than the next Jose Altuve.

MLB Rumors: Mets want Pete Alonso long-term

Pete Alonso's name circling in MLB trade rumors at the 2023 trade deadline sent shockwaves around the league. Everyone assumed Alonso was going to be with the New York Mets for the rest of his career, but the Mets were open to listening to offers teams were making for their star first baseman.

That has remained the case into this offseason. The Mets are not shopping Alonso and have shown no desire to move him, but are listening to deals as responsible teams do. New Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns has said numerous times he expects Alonso to be in a Mets uniform on Opening Day, and he said once again on the Foul Territory podcast that he wants Alonso in New York for the long haul.

""Best thing for us is for Pete to have a great year and best thing for Pete is for Pete to have a great year. And we'll go forward from there. But we're certainly invested in trying to keep Pete a Met, and I'm hopeful that over time we'll be able to work that out.""

David Stearns on Foul Territory

Stearns seems to be setting the table for Alonso to go through what teammates Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo went through in the 2022 offseason. Both Diaz and Nimmo played out their contract seasons, were outstanding, then hit free agency without an extension only to re-sign with the Mets on mega-deals.

Steve Cohen has shown time and time again that he's unafraid to spend what he needs to spend to field a competitive team. If the Mets want Alonso long-term, the Mets will give him an offer at some point that shows that. As frustrating as it might be that the Mets have no appetite to sign him to an extension, that doesn't mean Alonso is a goner. It feels unlikely that he'll be traded and once free agency comes around, the Mets will have as good of a chance as any other team to sign him.

MLB Rumors: Phillies-Red Sox trade buzz

The Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox have been two of the more frustrating teams to follow this offseason. The Phillies, following an incredibly disappointing exit in the NLCS at the hands of the 84-win Diamondbacks, did re-sign Aaron Nola, but let Craig Kimbrel and Rhys Hoskins walk while doing little else.

The Red Sox have been more active than the Phillies, but have shown an unwillingness to spend like the big market behemoth that they are, and have the makings of another last place team with where things stand right now.

The Red Sox appear unwilling to add much payroll but are still looking to add some starting pitching which makes sense, as they once again had an underwhelming rotation in 2023. Trading a player like Kenley Jansen away to then turn around and sign one of the better free agent starting pitchers available in Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery makes a whole lot of sense and is something that MLB Network's Jon Morosi says Boston is interested in doing.

Morosi lists two teams that could be interested in trading for Kenley, one of which being the aforementioned Phillies who could absolutely use an arm like Jansen. The Phillies lost their series to the Diamondbacks in large part because of Kimbrel who blew multiple games in that series. Jansen, meanwhile, has a 2.20 ERA in his postseason career, and has converted 20 of his 24 save opportunities in the playoffs.

This past season, Kenley made the All-Star team, posting a 3.63 ERA in 51 appearances for the Red Sox, converting 29 of his 33 save opportunities. He had four rough September appearances to inflate his ERA, but at the end of August, he had a 2.74 ERA, showing he was performing at a star level for five months of the season. He still has plenty left in the tank at age 36.

What Philadelphia would give up remains to be seen. Boston obviously wants pitching and has no appetite to add much money onto their books. It'll be interesting to see if these two sides can link up on a Jansen deal.