New reports reveal what Alex Bregman turned down to join Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox finally landed their established right-handed bat in Alex Bregman. And according to fresh reports, it’s clear what set the Sox apart from the competition in free agency.
Bregman ultimately chose the Red Sox’ offer of three years for $120 million, a huge AAV of $40 million per season. That $40M number proved superior to competing offers for Boston.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Bregman turned down offers from the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs that were structured differently. The Tigers offered the six years that Bregman reportedly wanted, but at an AAV of about $28.6 million. The Cubs offered four years at $30M annually, so they were decidedly last place in this race.
Bregman went for the highest AAV in the short term, and bet on himself to potentially earn a better long-term deal. He can opt out after 2025 or 2026. Beyond that, he certainly seems to believe he can do better than the AAV the Tigers wanted to lock him into for six years. If he stays with the Red Sox for all three seasons, he would then need to make only $17.2 million annually from 2028-30 to beat out the Tigers’ offer in the long run.
If Bregman opts out, that would probably mean things went really, really well for him and the Red Sox. The $40 million AAV is a blow-you-away kind of number for a player at the stage of Bregman’s career. At the same time, Bregman turned down the Tigers because he “wanted to be in Boston,” according to Ari Alexander.
And even if Bregman fails to markedly improve his offensive output playing at Fenway Park, his veteran leadership, winning pedigree, and defensive versatility would still be invaluable for a Red Sox team that hasn’t played postseason baseball since 2021.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
