Over the last few days, a reunion between Alex Bregman and the Houston Astros had gone from a near-impossibility to seemingly inevitable. The longer Bregman remained on the market, the more it seemed like he (and his agent, Scott Boras) hadn't been able to do any better than the six-year, $156 million offer the Astros reportedly extended to him at the start of the offseason. And with each of his other suitors either removing themselves from the running or refusing to budge on money, Houston decided to swoop back in.
Sunday's trade of reliever Ryan Pressly to the Chicago Cubs freed up some extra money, and Jose Altuve is even willing to learn left field to bring his former teammate back. Houston loves Bregman, Bregman loves Houston, everybody wins. Given how awkward the last couple of months have been, this is pretty much a best-case scenario, right?
Not so fast, my friend. Unfortunately, Bregman is still a Boras client. And if there's one thing we've learned about MLB's preeminent super-agent this offseason, it's that he's never met a negotiation he couldn't throw a wrench into for the faint promise of some extra money.
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Astros make the most sense for Alex Bregman, but Scott Boras can't get out of the way
Boras' response to all this recent Astros optimism? Slow your roll, guys. First came a report from Astros insider Ari Alexander, claiming that while there was in fact mutual interest in getting a deal done, the old $156 million offer wasn't going to cut it. That's ... awfully convenient timing, considering the developments of the last few days.
But as if that weren't evidence enough of Boras' influence here, desperate to convince Bregman that a better offer is just around the next bend, the New York Post's Jon Heyman — long Boras' stenographer of choice — offered to do the agent's dirty work for him.
Astros are trying to bring back Alex Bregman. They’re still willing to do (at least) $156M, 6 yrs, but one reason he declined that earlier is it’s a cut from $28.5M salary. There’s said another team offering 6 w/1st year optout ($ unknown). Among others in: Cubs, Bosox, Tigers
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 27, 2025
That's clearly a leak from the player side, not the team, given that only Bregman's camp would try to make clear that a six-year, $156 million contract represented a pay cut. That's technically true enough; the five-year, $100 million deal Bregman signed to buy out his arb years following the 2019 season was backloaded, paying $43 million over the first three seasons and $57 million over the final two. But the average annual value of the deal was still $20 million — $6 million per year less than this current offer. Spinning that as taking less is really, really stretching the definition of the term, and smacks of Boras trying to concoct a reason for why this contract might not be sufficient.
Because really, who is he trying to kid here? Heyman's claim that "another team" is offering a six-year deal with an opt-out after the first year also beggars belief. We know that the Cubs and Red Sox aren't interested in going longer than four, and if the Tigers were willing to pay up to that extent, he would've signed already. In reality, the market for Bregman remains what it's been for the last few weeks, and the Astros' offer is the best one out there. But Boras has decided it's not good enough, and he'd rather drag his client's offseason into spring training than admit he made an initial mistake.