Just when it seemed like Alex Bregman’s time with the Astros was nearing an end, reports
surfaced earlier this week that Houston’s six-year, $156M offer to the third baseman from earlier in the offseason remained open and that the club was perhaps considering a scenario that would see Jose Altuve move to left field, Isaac Paredes installed at second base and Bregman back in his old spot at the hot corner.
Astros GM Dana Brown addressed the situation with MLB.com’s Brian McTagggart and other media members Saturday, saying that the club indeed “had some conversations” with Bregman’s camp, with those talks moving in a “positive” direction. While Brown described re-signing Bregman as “a long shot,” he noted that the door wasn’t closed on the chances of a reunion between the two sides.
“I would say [the door is] cracked,” Brown said. “The fact that he’s still available, it just makes it interesting. Like, ’Man, this guy is such a good player, he’s done so many wonderful things here.’ We’ll stick with the cracked door and see where our conversations lead.”
Houston almost addressed the third base position by acquiring Nolan Arenado from the Cardinals in December, but Arenado chose to exercise his no-trade clause. While reports later surfaced that Arenado wasn’t entirely adverse to playing in Houston, at the time he had some concerns over the direction of an Astros team that had just a few days earlier traded away another star in Kyle Tucker. However, once Arenado turned down the trade, the Astros pivoted to sign Christian Walker as their new first baseman, and thus Paredes was penciled into the third base slot.
Walker’s signing was officially announced just over a month ago, leaving Bregman as the odd man out in Houston even if the Astros never technically withdrew their original offer. Suitors like the Tigers, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Cubs have all been linked to Bregman in varying degrees, but no deal has been reached, which seems to have led the Astros to circle back. As Brown plainly put it, “We never realized that Bregman would still be on the market at this point.”
Whether Bregman takes that six-year, $156M offer or the Astros perhaps bump the price a bit to help seal a deal, re-signing Bregman at any price would significantly boost the club’s payroll. As per RosterResource’s projections, the Astros’ projected luxury tax number sits just over $244M, putting the team above the first tax tier of $241M. Owner Jim Crane has implied that the Astros are willing to match last season’s $244M payroll and $262M tax number, as “it just depends on what players are available.” Re-signing a known quantity like Bregman might well make Crane more comfortable about increasingly spending, though the Astros might also be moving some money off the books soon, if Ryan Pressly (owed $14M in 2025) waives his no-trade clause to allow a proposed trade to the Cubs.
“Jim Crane has been very positive in terms of what this organization does to win … If we could do something that makes sense for this organization, we’ll do it. If it doesn’t make sense financially, then we probably won’t do it,” Brown said.
