FORT MYERS, Fla. — The swagger ball player and once proud baseball town have completed their relationship this weekend.
Alex Bregman is the Boston Red Sox, and nagging details on Sunday morning – what position will he play? Will he opt out of a $120 million contract after a season? – It may be bothering you. Certainly there was an ideal fit between a large free agent and a franchise that is willing to spend money.
However, there are rarely any contagiously tightly enclosed surrounding contributions, like Bregman’s punishment stats at Fenway Park, or the green monsters hidden above Lansdowne Street.
The Red Sox have won four World Series championships since 2004, but have missed five playoffs out of the last six years. Bregman never missed them in eight full seasons with the Astros.
The twin flames are illuminated.
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“I was lucky enough to be in the playoffs in the first eight years of my career,” Bregman says Sunday morning in Fenway South after a 48-hour whirlwind where I met my teammates and staff.
“I’m going to win here.”
Boston beacon
What Bregman sees is usually when he says something important or when he’s trying to do something else in another world on a baseball field. He was a World Series champion in 2017 and 2022, but his ’17 champions stealing a sign that stumbled upon him, and his attack on Houston bench coach, Red Sox manager Alex Cora, was a swagger. He took a lot of Ayumu.
Audacity gave way to Anodyne. Bregman and his teammates were booed relentlessly wherever they went, including Fenway Park, where the Astros eliminated Boston in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
However, in Boston, the model franchise has been dry over the past seven years, and is now the third general manager, with a growing sense that free agents aren’t taking Boston seriously.
And why does that happen? Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Sasaki had little thought of it before bolting the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Red Sox were at Juan Soto’s sweepstakes long enough to qualify for a cake written in frosting, “At least you tried it.”
The 2021 Wildcard Lottery was the only campaign to break up the third and latest finish. Fenway tickets are now softer.
And then the Red Sox’s despair began as Bregman went to the market and his six-year, $156 million contract with Houston went out on the shelf.
Club President Tom Werner – He is also the chairman of the Liverpool Football Club – called Agent Scott Bolas in London time at 3:30am. General Manager Craig Breslow called Bolas 13 times, recalls the agent. And owner John Henry lamented what the Red Sox would be like and became indifferent to the long-standing mediocrity, turning to other sports holdings in the news of the fanbase that feels the Fenway Sports Group.
“There was a small fee and I really had a little responsibility to get back to victory,” Bolas says. “And I spoke to John and there he expressed his sincerity and more passion that he was saying that there was something here and that there was something here and that it was here.
“What’s lost. And we have a strong intention to return it.”
Cora believes in Bregman, whom he believes, is the perfect messenger.
Kora calls everyone “children,” but Bregman is now 30 years old and with his two-year-old son, Knox, already a Bolas Corporation official has spitted on his swing. His wife, Reagan, will start Harvard Business School with his Boston family, according to Bregman.
And he saw firsthand what Bregman brought to the clubhouse, dugouts and the whole organization during his year in Houston.
“One of the things he’s trying to do: he’s going to challenge everyone here,” Cora says. “He’s going to ask about pitch use and swing decisions and scouting reports, the nutritional aspect.
“It’s not a bad idea. He wants to learn and be involved. 24 hours a day, his teammates, front office and coaching staff have already seen what I’ve been talking about him for so long. This is what I want to learn and get involved. Kids get it.
“He ordered my attention for 2017 and over the years. He continues to evolve and improve. For him, it’s his family, his baseball and his victory.”
Isn’t it a fun time, a long time?
Baseball works are good enough. Bregman is the winner of two All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Badges, and owns the .848 OPS, and its Fenway achievements – 21 games with average 375, .490 OBP, 1.240 OPS – Nobody I’m disappointed.
Still, he managed to leave in a year.
Despite his track record, Bregman chose to accept what Bolas calls a “bridge deal.” Most of the time, it will become famous for the recipients – take a look at this year’s Blake Snell’s $182 million deal – but create the impression that the upcoming season may just be a way station for players You can do it.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Carlos Correa opted out with his Minnesota twins just to get back. Matt Chapman signed a bridge agreement with San Francisco and ultimately signed the extension. Cody Bellinger stayed with the Chicago Cubs before his trade with the New York Yankees.
Bregman is passionate about the racehorse he now shares with his teammate Walker Buhler – ready to bet on himself.
“I believe in my abilities,” he says. “And I look forward to prove that.”
That indomitable spirit allowed him to waive a $171.5 million contract offer from the Detroit Tigers. Production of both victory and offensive at Comerica Park can be difficult to get. His $120 million guarantee has a significant deferral, but the annual value of $40 million is the 95th percentile of a multi-year agreement.
On Sunday, Bregman appears relaxed and edgy, playingfully throwing a Red Sox cap on Agent Bolas’ head, appearing to be discussing his favorite player, the Red Sox legend Dustin Pedroia. Trevor Story.
These Red Sox can use him. Franchise player Rafael Devers, who is now in his third year of the $315 million extension, may remain at 3 base, with Bregman likely to slide second, but Kora is concerned with defensive alignment They say the debate will be “ongoing.”
The lineup that hit the unproductive DH Masataka Yoshida and defensive players like Wilyer Abreu and Ceddane Rafaela suddenly grow long.
And the very impressive kids along the way – especially Christian Campbell, the second baseman of the future and the influence of the current roster, will benefit from Bregman’s guidance.
“We have great players, veteran players, young players ready to chase them and compete,” Bregman said. “From the beginning of this process, ownership met us and expressed how they could beat us.
“They showed us that we have a track record of doing it before.
Breslow said:
“Perhaps most importantly, we will be the champions, winners, leaders, leaders, and leaders of our young emerging groups, and will have a lasting impact on our organization.”
At the 25-minute press conference it was as if the Astros were not there. Bregman admitted it was “difficult” to leave the level of respect that Houston and the organization and players have. And he certainly has heard boos from Fenway fans after the sign stealing scandal was revealed, the postseason in which Houston eliminated Boston.
“Yeah, but that’s all good,” he said.
Again there is that boldness – the appearance with the words “Seeing me to play, 2017 disappears.” He needs a home, the Red Sox need a beacon, and suddenly, it’s a game for both.
“We’re going to raise the game in a pressure packing environment,” he says. “Starting at LSU has been the most pressure you can get in college, and playing in the playoffs over the past eight years in Boston and New York, Philadelphia and Houston puts pressure on you.
“It locks you.”
At least a year, and perhaps much longer.