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By Drew VonScio
Contributing Sports Writer
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It's going to be a long offseason in Boston as the Red Sox front office deliberates whether it should bring back Alex Bregman on a long-term deal.
The veteran infielder opted out of his most recent contract that was paying him an average of $40 million per year in order to seek a multi-year contract. Now, it's unknown if he returns to Boston, an organization that chose Bregman over Rafael Devers in June when the latter was shipped off to the San Francisco Giants.
After looking over the latest update from Jim Bowden, the odds of Bregman staying with the Red Sox are not looking too great currently.
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"The Red Sox loved their time with Alex Bregman and appreciated all he did on and off the field," Bowden wrote for The Athletic. "That said, I’m not sure they’ll be willing to commit to Bregman on a long-term contract at his market price. If they don’t, expect them to let rookie Marcelo Mayer take over at third base with Trevor Story staying at shortstop."
Story did not opt out of his contract, so he will remain with the organization for next season. With Mayer being a natural shortstop and being blocked by Story, the only other way to have Mayer and Bregman in the same infield is to play Mayer at second base. Boston would have elite defense at third, shortstop and second if this was the case.
However, it seems likely the Red Sox will choose to go in a different direction at the hot corner as they look to spend the money elsewhere. One possible option for Boston is to pursue Munetaka Murakami; he may not have Bregman's glove, but his bat-to-ball skills are strong. Murakami is also multiple years younger than Bregman even if their contracts end up being very similar.
One thing for certain is Boston can't let third base become a liability less than a year after trading Devers. Otherwise, Craig Breslow will have a lot of explaining to do.
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