Alex Bregman reportedly tabling contract talks with Red Sox until the offseason
"Iām just focused on trying to do what I can to help this team win and get into the playoffs."
Alex Bregman has been vocal at multiple points throughout the season about his desires to stay with the Red Sox beyond 2025. But it looks like Boston may still have to sweat out a free agency period if it hopes to keep the gold glove third baseman around.
Speaking to The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey, Bregman shared that he is no longer focused on contract extension talks at this point in the season. Bregman is signed to a three-year contract with the Red Sox, but the deal includes opt-outs for 2025 and 2026. As of now, it appears Bregman is prepared to opt out of that deal — even if he wants to re-sign with the Red Sox — to get more money and a longer-term commitment from the club.
“I’m just focused on trying to do what I can to help this team win and get into the playoffs. I feel like that’s where my head and mind need to be,” Bregman said. “Obviously, we’re open to talking [when the season is over], but for the next few months, I’m just really focused on the baseball.”
Craig Breslow echoed a similar sentiment about focusing on the on-field play, but was very complimentary when asked about Bregman on MLB Now.
“We’ll continue to watch that situation unfold and have the conversations that we need to have with Alex, kind of as appropriate and when appropriate,” Breslow said. “He has been everything that we could have hoped that he would be, both on the field and in terms of the impact that he’s had in the clubhouse and on some of these other young guys that we just talked about.”
Bregman has been steady since his arrival in Boston. He’s batting .303 and is third on the team in home runs and fifth in RBIs despite missing significant time in the middle of the season.
Even though Bregman publicly stated that contracts are off his mind, it is still possible for the Red Sox to reach an agreement on a deal to avoid a potential opt-out. Garrett Crochet was put in a similar position, noting that if he didn’t have a contract extension by Opening Day 2025, he would hold off on talks until the offseason.
Crochet ending up with an extension roughly a month after the season began, and its possible that Bregman’s public declaration may spark a similar outcome. However, being much deeper into the season likely makes matters more difficult than they were for Crochet.
Still, Bregman being able to test the waters at all this offseason would not be ideal for Boston. His market was on the slower side in 2024, as he didn’t reach his deal with the Red Sox until February. After proving his value with a brand new club this season, his market could get a lot hotter this offseason if he heads to free agency.
Considering that signing Bregman kickstarted the chain of events that ultimately led to Rafael Devers’s departure from Boston, losing Bregman just eight months later would be a difficult pill to swallow for the Red Sox.
As it stands, all eyes are shifted to a possible playoff run, with Bregman’s contract situation lingering large in the backround.
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