Going into this winter, the first job the Red Sox have on the to-do list is keeping third baseman Alex Bregman, who reportedly made his decision to opt out of the final two years of his three-year deal with the team official on Tuesday. There are limits to how much and how long the Red Sox will go on a Bregman contract, but the universal consensus is that he enjoyed his time in Boston, and his free agency is the Red Sox’s to lose.
And they could lose it. Last winter, Giants third baseman Matt Chapman was in a similar situation as Bregman with the same agent–Scott Boras–pulling the strings. He got six years and $151 million to stay in San Francisco. The Red Sox will need to pay more. Bregman sought $200 million over six years last winter, and turned down a six-year, $171 million offer from the Tigers.
Expect the Tigers to be back in the mix on Bregman. But they won’t be alone. One AL contender who is expected to make a surprising bid on Bregman, as reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post, is the small-market–but up-and-coming–Kansas City Royals.
Red Sox Still ‘Logical’ for Alex Bregman
Heyman wrote that the Red Sox remain a “logical fit” for Bregman, and the hope is that he will be back as a boon for the team’s still-struggling defense and a sounding board for the team’s fleet of young players. Bregman served both roles in 2025, as well as posting a .273 batting average with 18 home runs, a .360 on-base percentage and a .462 slugging mark.
But, Heyman wrote, “The Tigers are the most obvious suitor with his old Astros manager A.J. Hinch. The Tigers offered $171.5M over six years last year, and he countered about $10M higher before taking Boston’s three-year deal. The Jays and Mariners, playing in the ALCS, are among other possible fits, but there could be some surprise teams.”
And one surprise team, according to Heyman, is in focus: the Royals.
“Word is the Royals, who’ve become a decent spender for a small-market club, seek extra offense and could be one,” he wrote. “Maikel Garcia was a revelation at 3B for them this year, but he’s seen as versatile enough to move to the outfield or 2B.”
Bidding War Taking Shape
Now, it’s not unusual at this point of the offseason for speculation to come in around impending free agents and the wide range of teams from which those players will attract bids. Very often reporters are fed information from agents who, of course, want to create the perception of a massive bidding war. That’s something Boras would like to see.
So it remains to be seen whether the Red Sox need to worry much about the Royals in the Bregman sweepstakes.
At MLB Trade Rumors, speculation holds that the Tigers and Red Sox figure to be the sure-thing bidders on Bregman, but the site adds that the Cubs–who had interest in Bregman a year ago–could revive that interest this offseason.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Red Sox Alex Bregman Plans Could Be Spoiled by ‘Surprise’ Team appeared first on Heavy Sports.