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By Jon Vankin
Contributing Sports Writer
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All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman chose to opt out of his three-year contract with the Boston Red Sox on Nov. 4, almost exactly nine months after he ended a drawn-out free-agent drama last offseason by signing the $120 million deal. The former Houston Astros two-time World Series champion had been seeking a longer-term agreement, but in the end only two teams showed serious interest in signing him at all: the Red Sox and Detroit Tigers.
Now Bregman is a free agent again, albeit one who will be 32 years old at the start of his next contract, and who missed 43 games due to a quadriceps injury this year after missing 59 due to a similar quad issue in 2021 with the Astros. In addition, as the Red Sox made a push to get into the playoffs, Bregman's bat seemed to disappear.
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After posting a .927 OPS with 11 home runs in 234 plate appearances before the injury, the 2015 No. 2 overall draft pick managed just a .727 OPS with seven homers in 261 plate appearances on his return.
Does Bregman really expect the market to be more welcoming for him this time around? His agent Scott Boras may have dropped a hint on Wednesday that he does not believe it will be.
In the offseason Bregman sweepstakes, the Red Sox are widely favored to emerge the winner, bringing the third baseman from their first playoff team since 2021 back on a new contract. In a poll of 46 writers for MLB.com last week, the largest number of the experts polled believed that Bregman would make a comeback with Boston: 43 percent, that is, 20 of the 46, said that Bregman would return.
More MLB: Red Sox Get Frustrating News on Alex Bregman Replacement Target
Another 17 experts, or 37 percent, said the three-time All-Star would sign with the Detroit Tigers, while three (7 percent) saw the Chicago Cubs as Bregman's landing spot.
Boras, speaking at the MLB general managers' meetings in Las Vegas, appeared to concur with the plurality of MLB.com scribes, declaring, “No one wants a Breg-xit.”
"I think it was a bad roast in Beantown and, certainly, give the owners credit in '25," Boras said in a drawn-out coffee metaphor, in a video posted to X by WBZ-FM’s Tyler Milliken. "They went out and spent some Starbucks to, bring in a Bregman blend that led them to the playoffs. So I'm sure the Boston fans don't want this to be just a cup of coffee. And no one wants a Breg-xit."
The pun Boras was attempting to pull off was a reference to Brexit, the 2016 referendum in the United Kingdom in which British voters elected to secede from the European Union.
Of course, Bregman already had his "Breg-xit" when he opted out of the Red Sox contract he signed in February, The question now is not whether he will exit Boston, but whether he will reverse course and return.
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