DALLAS — The Red Sox remain among a handful of teams with strong interest in free agent Alex Bregman as the chase for the veteran infielder begins to intensify at the winter meetings.
The Red Sox, along with the Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers, are considered among the strongest bidders for Bregman, according to a source with knowledge of his free agent process.
Though Bregman has played third base almost exclusively in the big leagues and won a Gold Glove at the position in 2024, the Red Sox envision him at second base, allowing Rafael Devers, for now, to remain the team’s third baseman. Bregman has publicly said he would be fine with a position change.
But Boston’s pursuit, according to an industry source, is somewhat complicated by some internal disagreement over Bregman. While manager Alex Cora and team president Sam Kennedy are known to be big proponents of Bregman, the source said some members of the baseball operations staff, including chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, are more circumspect when it comes to the player.
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Cora was Houston’s bench coach in 2017 when, in Bregman’s first full season in the majors, the Astros won the World Series. Cora spoke glowingly of Bregman when asked about him Monday.
“Alex is a good player, man,” said Cora. “He’s a complete player. He’s a player who’s been on winning teams his whole career — good defender, offensively he’s really good. He’s a guy a lot of people are talking about and I do believe he can impact a big league team, a championship-caliber team. He’s that type of player.”
It’s unknown why Breslow and others are less enthusiastic about Bregman, though it’s logical to believe it has something to do with the dip in his offensive production in recent years. From 2018 through 2022, Bregman averaged an OPS of .891, but over the last two seasons, his OPS has declined, with an .804 figure in 2023 followed by a .768 OPS in 2024.
Bregman, who will turn 31 days after the 2025 starts, has already turned down an offer of six years for $156 million to remain with the Astros last month. Within the industry, the expectation is that Bregman will ultimately land a deal of seven or more years, with a total value nearing — if not topping — $200 million.
Interestingly, there are people in the Red Sox organization who believe Bregman is likely to stay with the Astros, while some prominent Astros folks think he’ll end up with the Red Sox.
