As Boston reels from missing out on multiple targets, Bregman’s wandering eye toward Seattle raises the stakes on an offseason they can’t afford to fumble.
On Wednesday evening, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reported that MLB super agent had reached out on behalf of his client Alex Bregman to the Seattle Mariners to inform the team of the two-time World Series champion’s interest in potentially signing with the franchise.
Earlier this month. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden reported that Bregman was seeking the type of contract that would bring him to the end of his career, and that he wanted that contract to come from the Red Sox.
And while reports remain consistent from veteran insiders that the Red Sox remain the favorites to bring Bregman back to Boston after the 31-year-old opted out of his three-year deal with the team after only one season, Jude’s piece of reporting from Wednesday makes it clear that Bregman and Boras are considering all options at this time.
With that being said - the Red Sox cannot afford to whiff again this offseason on one of their top targets.
On Tuesday, Red Sox Nation dealt with a round of reporting on Kyle Schwarber opting to remain in Philadelphia on a five-year deal worth $150 million by telling themselves, “No worries, this just means we’re going to land Pete Alonso instead.”
And why wouldn’t they think that? They had all the necessary ingredients going for them: a major need in the middle of their order, a player who likes Boston with a wife that grew up in Quincy, a competing team for his services with far less money and fan interest, and payroll flexibility to bring in a new face-of-the-franchise-type to help knock guys like Roman Anthony home on a nightly basis throughout 2026.
You throw that all in a pot, and it should produce an Alonso stew for Red Sox fans to slurp on for the rest of the winter, giving them plenty of time to spend money on a new shirsey at the pro shop before Christmas.
Instead, the only stewing Red Sox fans were doing as it relates to Alonso was in the form of anger with ownership, as the former Mets slugger reportedly agreed to terms with the Baltimore Orioles on a five-year, $155 million deal on Tuesday.
Heading into this week’s annual MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando, FL, the potential re-signing of Bregman was seen almost as a complimentary piece to go along with the potential signing of either Schwarber or Alonso. The former was meant to be the consistent bat returning to the lineup with the added benefit of elite leadership in the clubhouse, and the latter was meant to be the big bopper addition this team hasn’t had since dealing Rafael Devers last summer.
With Schwarber and Alonso off the table, it becomes a one horse race for Boston.
They may want to think about picking up those bread crumbs they laid down earlier this week with reports coming down that the team “would be fine” with 22-year-old infielder Marcelo Mayer starting at third base on opening day next spring. That nugget came down from podcaster Mathew Crory on Tuesday while Alonso was still on the board.
It’s pure speculation, but logic would tell you that watching Boston whiff on two potential running mates in the lineup while also hearing reports that they would be OK with a young player replacing you in the field could give you a wandering eye.
And with Bregman being almost maniacal about his desire to win at the highest level, he’s probably looking at everything Seattle has done as an organization over the last year and thinking to himself, “That’s an outfit that wants to win and wants to win right now.”
If the Red Sox lose out on Bregman to Seattle, there may be brown bags over the heads of some fans down in Fort Myers, FL this upcoming spring training season. They cannot lose out on the services of a guy that was already in their building as recently as two months ago.
The optics would be atrocious, and the fans would continue to fume.
Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.