Alex Bregman he remains unsigned for less than a month until the pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Bregman will not return to the Astros after turning down a reported six-year, $156MM offer that led to Houston’s intervention. Isaac Paredes/Christian Walker corner infield tandem.
At the start of the offseason, it appeared that Bregman and his Boras Corporation representation wanted to eclipse the $200MM mark. Whether that is still the goal is not clear, although it is understood that some teams are hoping that they may ask higher as they continue to stand in the market.
To that end, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score writes that the Cubs have recently had “casual” discussions with Boras about Bregman. Levine suggests the Cubs aren’t interested in offering a long-term deal. They seem to be on the market side in case the two-time All-Star is considering a short term with opt-out clauses. There is no indication that Bregman is currently willing to do so, however.
Chicago traded Paredes as a center for Kyle Tucker a blockbuster. High hopes Matt Shaw it is the favorite of the third basic function. Shaw combined for a whopping .284/.379/.488 slash with 21 homers and 31 stolen bases between Double-A and Triple-A last season. Giving him the starting job can be justified, but there’s no guarantee that even a prospect of Shaw’s caliber will handle big league pitching. The Cubs don’t really have a fallback if Shaw fails. Vidal Bruján, Luis Vázquez and Rule 5 select Gage Workman they are backup players on the 40-man roster.
Bregman will provide the highest floor. He hit 26 homers with a .260/.315/.453 line in his final season in Houston. Bregman remains an All-Star caliber player despite drawing far fewer walks than he has in his previous six seasons. He’s entering his age-31 season, so while it’s understandable if teams are reluctant to commit to six or seven years, Bregman shouldn’t be in danger of any kind of immediate release.
The Cubs have been at the top of the market for consecutive seasons. Nine have never invested since making $177MM Dansby Swanson in the winter of 2022-23. Chicago was no exception Juan Sotoand they don’t seem interested in playing high in the first pitch market. They are loosely connected Jack Flahertyalthough it seems that they are similarly waiting on the edge of the market in case a low buying opportunity arises. The Cubs have about $198MM in luxury tax liabilities, according to RosterResource calculations, leaving them more than $40MM outside of the base cap.
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