Sometimes, throughout the course of Major League Baseball’s free agency window, you can just start to feel the wind shifting in a certain direction.
The Boston Red Sox have had lots of near misses with free agents in the last few seasons. And this winter, their only major move has been a trade, not a free-agent signing. But more so than at any point in recent memory, it feels as though things are lining up for Boston to land a big fish.
Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman just reached the end of his five-year, $100 million contract with his longtime team. The Red Sox need a right-handed bat, a need Bregman fits, and his the Astros, who were likely Boston’s biggest competition, may have fallen completely out of the running.
On Friday, the Astros signed Christian Walker, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks, to be their new first baseman. They had also traded for third baseman Isaac Paredes a week earlier, when they dumped superstar Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs in his final year of team control.
Jason Ounpraseuth of NESN discussed the possibility of Boston landing Bregman recently, saying there was a “good chance” it would happen as a consequence of Walker signing with the Astros.
“Signing Walker seemingly takes the Astros out of the Alex Bregman market, and they’re apparently comfortable with Isaac Paredes replacing him at third base,” Ounpraseuth said.
“The Red Sox reportedly were “more of a possibility” to land Bregman than the New York Yankees, so there’s a good chance the sides could agree on a deal.”
The Yankees also added Paul Goldschmidt to be their new first baseman on Sunday, which brings them one step closer to completing their lineup, and eliminates some possible lineup combinations they could have concocted with Bregman in them.
Fitting Bregman in could take a few avenues. He’s been rumored to be ready to accept a position change to second base, which would leave Rafael Devers at third base. Or one of Triston Casas or Masataka Yoshida could be traded, opening up first base or designated hitter for Devers and allowing the superior defender in Bregman to slot in at third.
Maybe it’s not a perfect fit, but the Red Sox could certainly find a way to make it work. Bregman has been seeking a contract in the $200 million range, but the Red Sox might be the beneficiary of a dwindling market if the Astros and Yankees fall out of the race.
