Red Sox finalize deal with Alex Bregman, unveil jersey number as more reactions pour in
"Obviously, a huge addition. A guy that's won, brings a certain amount of intensity to our clubhouse, and some leadership."
Alex Bregman is officially a member of the Red Sox.
The Red Sox’ three-year, $120 million signing of the two-time All-Star was finalized and announced by the team on Saturday. Additionally, Boston shared that Bregman will wear No. 2, joining the likes of Jerry Remy, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Xander Bogaerts as players who’ve worn that number with the Red Sox.
Bregman will be introduced as a member of the team in a press conference at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. But Bregman has already arrived at the team’s facilities in Fort Myers, appearing Saturday as the Red Sox’ first full-team workout of spring training is on Monday.
As Bregman made his way to Fort Myers, the Red Sox shared a handful of images and videos of his first few official moments with the team on social media. In one video, Bregman appeared to post the news of his official signing to one of the team’s social media accounts.
In another video, Bregman made his way to his locker in the Red Sox’ clubhouse. Once he arrived at his locker, which appeared to be located next to pitcher Quinn Preister’s, Bregman took the Red Sox hat in his stall and put it on before smiling at the camera to give a thumbs up.
Once he was decked out in Red Sox gear, Bregman met with Alex Cora. The Red Sox manager formed a bond with Bregman when he was the Astros’ bench coach during their 2017 World Series-winning season.
“Let them look at you the way Alex looks at Bregman 🤩,” the Red Sox’ Spanish-language X account wrote.
While Cora has opted to wait until the signing became official to comment on the Red Sox adding Bregman, the All-Star’s newest teammates have expressed excitement over the signing since it was first reported Wednesday. Trevor Story joined that group of Red Sox players on Saturday, sharing that they were interested in becoming teammates in the past.
“Obviously, a huge addition,” Story told reporters on Saturday. “A guy that’s won, brings a certain amount of intensity to our clubhouse, and some leadership. I’ve known Alex and we’ve gotten close over the last few years.
“It was cool, because he was kind of recruiting me to Houston [in 2022] and now the roles had reversed. I was recruiting him pretty hard to come here. It’s great to see that we got it done and excited to get it going.”
Story said he sold Bregman on the idea of playing at Fenway Park, believing that his new home ballpark “plays well for his swing.”
“There’s nothing like the atmosphere. There’s nothing like playing in Boston. There’s nothing like winning in Boston,” Story said. “To me, it just feels like it means more. I think that was a big thing that drew me to Boston.
“Also, just winning,” Story added. “It’s hard to say that after the last few years, but he could see what we have brewing here.”
Story and Bregman will likely be the Red Sox’ middle infield duo to open the year. Bregman is reportedly expected to play second base, moving from third, while Story will remain at shortstop.
Bregman’s signing, though, will likely make it difficult for two of the Red Sox’ most notable young players to have a role on the Opening Day roster. Prior to Bregman’s signing, some believed that Kristian Campbell (a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball) and Vaughn Grissom (who was one of the Braves’ top prospects in recent years before he was traded to the Red Sox last offseason) might have been competing for that starting spot.
Campbell didn’t seem too concerned, though, about Bregman possibly blocking his path to the roster.
“I think it’s really cool that we got Bregman, to be honest,” Campbell told reporters, via MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “I’ve heard he’s really good person and obviously a really good baseball player. He’s been on championship teams. He’s going to be a leader. He has a lot of great qualities. So I can’t wait to talk to him, meet him, ask him about the infield, get to work with him. It’s honestly going to be a super good thing for the team. I’m honestly really happy to have him.”
Grissom, meanwhile, told reporters that the signing will increase his competitive juices.
“I’d say it motivates me, for sure,” Grissom said. “Obviously, I would like to share the field with him. I wouldn’t be selfish and get upset because you never know. You never know how the season starts different than it ends. There’s a lot of moving pieces and stuff like that. Anything can happen. … It’s hard to guess what happens in this game. But yeah, it motivates me. I feel ready to go and I can’t wait to meet him, honestly.
“I’m still going to try to be the best ballplayer I can be and help the team win however I can in whatever role that may be. You never know what can happen.”
Of course, the Red Sox could always shuffle around their infield as the season goes along. But, at least for now, it appears that Bregman will be at second and Rafael Devers will be at third.
In order to make room for Bregman, the Red Sox placed left-handed pitcher Patrick Sandoval on the 60-day injured list. Sandoval signed with the Red Sox earlier in the offseason, but he won’t be able to pitch for a bit after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June.
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