Astros, We Have a Problem: Houston and Alex Bregman’s Contract Stalemate Shows No Sign of…
At the beginning of the offseason, general manager Dana Brown stated that the Houston Astros‘ No. 1 priority was to bring Alex Bregman back to the only franchise he’s ever known.
It sounded great.
After the Astros have let a handful of stars leave on the open market, some of them their own homegrown talent, doing what it would take to retain Bregman after he won two World Series titles with the team would certainly make the fan base happy.
But right now, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen.
Houston knew the type of contract the star third baseman was searching for this winter after he was relatively underpaid compared the output he had produced during his career, but despite knowing super agent Scott Boras would do everything in his power to get his client the most money possible, the Astros still lowballed him.
Per reports, the offer they placed on the table for Bregman is worth $156 milion over six years.
Not a bad offer, but certainly not one that is going to blow him away when he came into free agency looking for $200 million.
That gap is sizeable, and with other big market teams circling, Houston has to up their offer if they’re going to bring him back.
The next question becomes, have they?
According to Jose de Jesus Ortiz, they have not.
The insider reports “there’s been no change” in the talks between the two sides since the Winter Meetings ended, and based on the information he’s heard, it doesn’t sound like there is urgency to renegotiate.
The Astros no longer have a glaring need at third base like before since they just acquired Isaac Paredes from the Chicago Cubs as a featured part of their Kyle Tucker trade package, so the notoriously cash-conscious front office and ownership group could very well be more than happy to let that $156 million deal be their final offer.
If that’s the case, Bregman will be playing for a new team in 2025 and beyond.
