Alex Bregman’s tumultuous offseason has finally reached its conclusion. And his winding journey through free agency has ended with him finding a new home. Bregman is heading to Boston after agreeing Wednesday on a three-year, $120 million contract with the Red Sox, a source confirmed to Yahoo Sports.
Bregman’s deal will give him an average annual value of $40 million, which ties him for the fourth-highest annual salary in baseball, behind only Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani and Zack Wheeler. The 30-year-old third baseman was the final major free-agent domino to fall, and his addition puts the cherry on top of a big offseason in Beantown.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
For Bregman, this new deal with Boston closes the door on an extremely successful tenure with the Astros that saw him feature in the team’s return to prominence, with four World Series appearances and two titles over nine seasons. As a franchise cornerstone alongside Jose Altuve, he was one of the pillars of a new age of baseball in Houston.
In his nine seasons with the Astros after being drafted with the No. 2 pick in 2015, Bregman slashed .272/.366/.483 with 191 homers. Last season, he hit .260 with 26 homers. The Red Sox’s aggressive pursuit of Bregman saw them beat out the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays for the prized free agent.
In Boston, the two-time All-Star will have the opportunity to reunite with his former bench coach and now manager, Alex Cora. Bregman also brings an impressive postseason pedigree to an organization that could benefit from it.
His offensive profile is also a great fit in Boston. After years of hitting with the short porch in Houston, Bregman moves to Fenway Park and the Green Monster in left field — it’s easy to see the Red Sox’s vision for plenty of doubles and pull-side homers. In fact, in 21 career games at Fenway, Bregman is slashing .375/.490/.750 with nine doubles, seven homers and 15 RBI. His 1.240 OPS at Fenway is his highest at any ballpark (minimum 20 games).
The Red Sox came into this offseason looking to be part of the Juan Soto sweepstakes. Since then, they have pivoted and put together one of the more complete lineups in baseball. Bregman’s addition gives Boston the big right-handed bat they’d been seeking since the beginning of the winter, and he can slot in with Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers at the top of the lineup, providing Devers plenty of protection.
Defensively, Bregman has been a third…