The Boston Red Sox stopped operating like a small-market team.
Alex Bregman stopped demanding $200 million.
The Detroit Tigers stopped from adding another year.
The Chicago Cubs stopped from subtracting a year.
The Houston Astros stopped cold in their tracks.
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And just like that, Bregman, a two-time World Series champion, two-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner, is now a Red Sox infielder after spending his entire career with the Astros.
Bregman, who dropped his demands for a long-term deal, agreed to a three-year, $120 million deferred contract with the Red Sox that includes an opt-out after each season, a person with direct knowledge of the contract told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke only on the condition of anonymity since the contract won’t become official until Bregman passes a physical.
The deal was staggering with its annual average salary of $40 million, tying Yankees MVP Aaron Judge for the sixth-highest AAV in baseball history, but a bargain price for the Red Sox with only a three-year commitment.
After all of the winter bluster, it really came down to only three teams: the Red Sox, Tigers and Cubs.
The Tigers, who offered a six-year, $171.5 million contract for Bregman, could have easily had him if they just bumped it up and added a seventh year, making it a $200 million deal. They refused.
The Cubs, who jumped into the sweepstakes late, could have grabbed him if they changed their four-year, $120 million offer to the same 3-year, $120 million like the Red Sox, or perhaps even went to five years. Nope.
The Astros, who made the first offer Bregman received for six years, $156 million, refusing to ever alter it, and even took it off the table.
And the Toronto Blue Jays were used only as a stalking horse, and were never involved in the bidding at any juncture.
The Red Sox, who blew it by insulting everyone from Mookie Betts to Jon Lester to Xander Bogaerts with low offers, and overpaid for Trevor Story, now land the man who could get them back to the postseason.
It’s unknown whether the Red Sox can talk Rafael Devers into moving from third base to accommodate Bregman. Bregman, 30, who originally was drafted by the Red Sox out of high school in 2012, has a career .375 batting average (30-for-80) with a 1.240 OPS in 21 games at Fenway Park, including seven homers, 15 RBI and nine doubles.
The only player in history with a higher career on-base percentage at Fenway with at least 95 career plate appearances is Hall of Famer Ted Williams.
“Alex is a champion,’’ agent Scott Boras said at the winter meetings in December. “All of these teams realize what a leader he is and what a champion he is, plus his skill level.’’
The deal with Boston reunites him with Red Sox manager Alex Cora, his former bench coach in 2017 with the Astros, snubbing his former manager, A.J. Hinch of the Tigers. Hinch managed Bregman from 2016-2019 before he was fired in the aftermath of the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal.
“He can help any major league team,’’ Hinch said Wednesday before Bregman’s decision. “Special guy.’’
Well, maybe the Tigers can jump back into the fray for Bregman if he somehow decides to leave the Red Sox and his remaining $80 million after this season, but for now he belongs to the Red Sox.
And for now, the Red Sox are acting like one of the big boys again and have become a legitimate power in the AL East. They had quite the winter trading for left-handed ace Garrett Crochet, and signing starters Walker Buehler and Patrick Sandoval, and also left-handed relievers Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson.
The Red Sox, who slashed payroll after being a top-five team from 2004-2020, simply realized you need to spend to win. They were a last-place team in the AL East in 2020, 2022 and 2023, and just a .500 team last year.
They boasted that they would spend big money all winter, but spent just $52.3 million. They lost out to the New York Mets in the Juan Soto sweepstakes. They couldn’t land aces Corbin Burnes or Max Fried. And finally got a prized free agent in Bregman, their most lucrative free-agent signing since shortstop Trevor Story in 2022, pushing their payroll past the $241 million luxury tax threshold.
Now, the Red Sox finally have the right-handed bat they badly needed to balance their heavy left-handed lineup, shored up an infield defense that led the major leagues in errors, and have a clubhouse leader that has been missing since the departures of Betts and Bogaerts.
The Red Sox, who have one of the game’s top farm systems and plenty of infield depth with Vaughn Grissom and David Hamilton, also have some valuable trade chips in DH Masataka Yoshida and first baseman Triston Casas. If the Red Sox trade one of them, it would enable Bregman to play his natural third-base position where he won a Gold Glove award last season and slide Devers to first base or DH.
But for now, they’ve got one of the finest infielders in the game and a two-time World Series champion who has played in the postseason every year of his career.
“Alex is a complete player,’’ Cora said in December at the winter meetings. “He’s a player that’s been on winning teams his whole career. Good defender. Offensively, he’s really good. He’s a guy that a lot of people are talking about, and I do believe he can impact a big-league team, a championship-caliber team.’’
That team is now the Red Sox.
They’re finally back, acting once again like a genuine big-market team, and even a threat to the powerful New York Yankees.
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