This Player’s Contract Could Be the Model for Alex Bregman, Red Sox

Very few storylines are larger this offseason for the Red Sox than third baseman Alex Bregman opting out after year one of his three-year deal with Boston to become an unrestricted free agent.

In doing so, the 31-year-old is leaving $80 million in guaranteed money on the table, as he and his super agent Scott Boras seek some combination of more money and/or more years on the open market.

Reporting suggests that Bregman will have plenty of suitors, despite finishing the season with his arrow pointed in the wrong direction after a fast start to the season earned him a spot on the All -Star team in July. But after a quad injury in late May sent Bregman to the IL for an extended stretch in the middle of the season, he never fully returned to form.

Despite the dip in production, Bregman remained productive. And maybe most importantly, it was during his time on the IL where the two-time World Series champion showed his mettle as a leader, with all sorts of reporting coming down on Bregman working with both hitters and pitchers across the board as he continued rehabbing from injury.

Earlier this month, Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse told my friend and colleague Rob Bradford on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast that Bregman is more-than-partially responsible for rookie sensation Roman Anthony exploding as one of baseball’s best hitters before his season ended with an oblique injury.

Here’s what Fatse told Bradfo:

“Something that we had saw in spring training - you know, Roman had his hands really far out in front of his face. His hands would, essentially, kind of pull back and get behind him. And we noticed, obviously, from a profile perspective, [the] kid hits the ball really hard. Obviously, there's an opportunity for him to catch the ball a bit further out in front, use his pull-side gap a little bit more - like, there's opportunities for that, but he hits the ball hard enough to drive the ball to center-left, center field.

“But just kind of looking at the move - the move is a little big, and sometimes we get out of sync, and we kind of just felt like, ‘Yeah, we could help simplifying. This could help his ball flight.’ But we also feel like it can help him against lefties, just kind of create some better lines with his upper body, not get as crossed up, so to speak.

“And yeah - Breggy grabbed him one day in Philly, and I remember they - you know, I was there early, and all of a sudden he sits down. He's like, ‘Hey, I've been talking to him about this, let's go.’ And he just - he starts ripping through video, talking shop. We went right to the cage and got to work. That's what makes him great, you know? That's where his impact on our group’s, like, invaluable to me. But getting back to what I was saying about Roman - like, the kid would make adjustments that you think would take 200 at bats, and this kid would do it in 30, 40. Like, he would just be able to apply things fast.”

Is 80% of what you got at the beginning of the 2025 season from Bregman plus the off-field leadership enough to warrant a shiny new contract for Boras and his client? Boston’s answer to that question remains to be seen.

In the meantime, there may be a contract signed in the not-too-distant past by another star in baseball that could start painting the picture for what could be realistic for Bregman, whether it’s with the Red Sox or elsewhere.

Alex Speier broke it down in his Sunday Baseball Notes column for The Boston Globe:

“After the 2023 season, third baseman Matt Chapman signed a three-year, $54 million deal with the Giants. Near the conclusion of a spectacular 2024 campaign, he signed a new six-year, $151 million deal with the Giants. Similarly, Blake Snell - coming off a Cy Young season in 2023 - signed a two-year, $62 million deal with the Giants. He opted out of the deal after one year, returned to the open market last winter, and signed a five-year, $182 million deal with the Dodgers.

“Chapman always represented a likely harbinger for Bregman, who like his colleague a year ago just finished his age-31 season. Now, Chapman’s $151 million guarantee represents an obvious basis of comparison for teams interested in Bregman.”

Speier points out that Chapman and Bregman share the same agent, and that these are the types of deals Boras likes looking for. That he just recently pulled off this type of deal for Chapman, who was the same age as Bregman is now and plays the same position, tells you that he has all this framework in place, ready to roll.

Is this as easy as cope + paste for Boras and Boston?

How does six years, $151 million sound for Bregman to remain in Boston?

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.