Red Sox took a page out of Dodgers book to outbid everyone for Alex Bregman

Not to be dramatic but they do say it's darkest before the dawn. Just one day ago, I reached a dark place in which I satirically wrote about the Boston Red Sox trying to force top prospect (and left-handed hitter) Roman Anthony to hit right-handed. The Alex Bregman sweepstakes has been tiring and it, at that point, felt like it wasn't going to happen, so one's mind goes into galaxy mode.

But now it's happened. Alex Bregman is the newest member of the Red Sox after signing to a three-year $120 million contract on Wednesday night. We're in a much healthier place now.

At the worst of the Bregman free agency for Boston fans, it seemed as if Craig Breslow wasn't actually willing to get uncomfortable in the way he and Sam Kennedy had promised. Scott Boras and Bregman desperately wanted a long-term contract. The Red Sox brass, however, wouldn't budge, trying to call Boras and Bregman's bluff. Ultimately, they did, not dissimilar from how the franchise played J.D. Martinez years ago in the waiting game.

With only short-term deals on the table seemingly from the clubs Bregman would want to join, the Red Sox made a godfather short-term offer. And in an offseason wherein the Los Angeles Dodgers have become supervillains with their free agency strategy, Breslow and the Boston front office took a page out of their book.

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Red Sox mimic Dodgers with deferred money to help secure Alex Bregman

According to ESPN insider Jeff Passan, the Red Sox utilized what many have colored as the Dodgers' superpower despite the fact that it's available to everyone: They included deferred money in order to reach an AAV $10 million per year higher than anyone else in the sweepstakes.

While you can bicker about the machinations of deferred money and how manipulative it can be for payroll, the biggest reason that baseball fans have pushed back on it is because it's been the Dodgers doing it again and again. That, however, doesn't mean other teams couldn't or can't do so. It simply puts them ahead of the curve with how they weaponized it, then becoming such an attractive destination that they were able to keep using it with top players.

Boston is obviously not in the same position, per se, but utilizing deferrals in combination with a short-term, high-AAV deal that contains multiple opt-outs is perfect. The need in the Red Sox lineup for a right-handed bat like Bregman's (one that should rake at Fenway) was dire. Breslow went out and made sure it happen — and I'm sure it wasn't a coincidence that it also came immediately after Boston secured the pick from the Nick Pivetta qualifying offer to then spend it on Bregman, who also had a QO attached.

Now, the Red Sox are in a substantially better position to compete and contend in the 2025 season while also not putting unnecessary questions about the future of other top prospects like Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer. They got what they needed to be a legit threat this season on their terms.

But if you're copying a team like the Dodgers, the reigning World Series champs that have continued to stack up wins this offseason, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Red Sox came up with a big win too.