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Alex Bregman

MLBTR Podcast: Pete Alonso’s Deal, And Potential Landing Spots For Bregman and Arenado

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • Pete Alonso re-signing with the Mets (1:45)
  • What’s next for the Blue Jays after not getting Alonso? (9:25)
  • Will the Mets and Alonso going to reunite again in the future or will this be it? (12:55)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What teams could still sign Alex Bregman? (17:50)
  • Can the Cardinals trade Nolan Arenado to the Red Sox? (29:20)
  • Do the Orioles need an ace? (37:55)
  • What are the Marlins building right now? (39:30)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Jed Hoyer, Craig Counsell Discuss Cubs’ Third Base Plans

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Pitchers and catchers reported to camp for the Cubs today, and as part of the start of camp president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and manager Craig Counsell both spoke with the media about a number of topics. Third base was a particular focus of the media session after Chicago dealt incumbent third baseman Isaac Paredes to the Astros as part of the Kyle Tucker trade back in December. Notably, the Cubs have reportedly remained on the periphery of the market for longtime Astros third baseman Alex Bregman this winter as he’s lingered in free agency. While it does seem as though Chicago has interest in Bregman’s services, Hoyer made clear the club is currently focused on the players they already have internally in comments relayed by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

“Unclear,” Hoyer said when asked if another major move was coming before Opening Day. “I think you always look for opportunity, but right now we’re going to focus on the guys we have in camp. That’s the plan.”

Nightengale reports that the Red Sox, Tigers, and Astros have all made offers of at least four years to Bregman at this point, and that’s largely consistent with previous reporting that has suggested Bregman has been presented with five- and six-year offers throughout the winter. As for the Cubs, Nightengale writes that there’s been “no indication” that the Cubs would be willing to offer more than a three-year deal, but added that they could be willing to offer Bregman the highest average annual value of any of his suitors should he settle for a short-term deal.

It’s a model that the club followed to re-sign Cody Bellinger last winter when they landed him on a three-year, $80MM pact in late February, and other high-profile free agents like Pete Alonso and Jack Flaherty have had to settle for similarly short-term offers previously this winter. Whether Bregman’s market will make it necessary for him to follow that same path remains to be seen, however, and it’s easy to imagine the Cubs simply going with their internal options at the position rather than committing to a lengthy contract with Bregman.

Of those internal options, the most exciting one for Cubs fans is surely top prospect Matt Shaw. The club’s 2023 first-round pick has done nothing but hit as a professional, with a .303/.384/.522 slash line across four levels of the minors to this point in his young career. That includes a fabulous 35-game stint at Triple-A late last year, where he hit .298/.395/.534 with a strikeout rate of just 19.7% in 152 trips to the plate. Shaw’s ascent has put him firmly on the big league radar headed into the 2025 season, and it seems as though (barring a surprise acquisition like Bregman) the 23-year-old will get every opportunity to open camp with the club this spring.

With that being said, Hoyer made clear (as relayed by ESPN’s Jesse Rogers) that Shaw will have to earn the position this spring and won’t just be handed the position. While Hoyer emphasized that they don’t plan to “anoint” the rookie, it’s worth pointing out that there isn’t a clear veteran option for the hot corner should they decide to pivot away from Shaw at this point. Vidal Brujan was acquired from the Marlins earlier this winter but has less than 100 innings of third base experience in the majors and is a career .189/.261/.270 hitter. Rule 5 pick Gage Workman is viewed as a plus defender at third base and hit well for the Tigers’ Double-A affiliate in Erie last year, but he hasn’t even played at the Triple-A level before making him arguably less experienced than Shaw himself.

Perhaps veteran utility man Jon Berti is the best internal third base candidate besides Shaw, though the 35-year-old is coming off a season where he was limited to just 25 games due to injuries and would be risky to rely on in an everyday role. He’s also reportedly under consideration to back up Michael Busch at first base, suggesting his best role may be one where his versatility is leveraged to allow him to fill in at multiple positions off the bench. Further complicating the Cubs’ infield mix is the uncertain timeline of second baseman Nico Hoerner. The Cubs revealed in late October that Hoerner had undergone flexor tendon surgery without providing a timeline for his return, and the latest update on his recovery process was that he had yet to begin throwing or hitting post-surgery and that his availability for the start of the season was in question.

Given all of that uncertainty around the infield, another infielder would certainly make sense for Chicago even if they aren’t willing to extend themselves to land Bregman. Free agent infield help is scarce at this point in the offseason, however. Aside from Bregman, the best third base options available are bench pieces like Paul DeJong and Luis Urias. It’s possible a trade could be had, with Brett Baty of the Mets, Oswaldo Cabrera of the Yankees, and Willi Castro of the Twins among speculative trade candidates who could still be available at this point in the winter, but the Cubs haven’t been tied to any of those names to this point.

Until and unless the Cubs add another infielder to give Shaw more robust competition for the Opening Day third base job, it seems very likely he’ll be at the hot corner for the club when the season begins. That figures to be true even if Hoerner isn’t ready for Opening Day, as Counsell told reporters (including Jordan Bastian of MLB.com) that Shaw’s focus is on third base this spring when asked if Shaw could spend some time at second base this spring to make him an option at the keystone should Hoerner begin the season on the IL.

Astros Have Reportedly Increased Offer To Bregman, Deal Still Seen As Unlikely

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Of MLBTR’s top 20 free agents, Alex Bregman is the only one who remains unsigned. The star third baseman is reportedly sitting on multiple six-year offers but hasn’t found a price to his liking.

One of those is from the incumbent Astros. Houston has reportedly had a standing six-year, $156MM offer for much of the winter. Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the Astros have bumped that number higher, though specifics on the new proposal aren’t clear. In any case, it doesn’t seem that it was a dramatic jump. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reports that Houston’s increased offer is still unlikely to result in a deal.

The Tigers are still pursuing Bregman after agreeing to a two-year deal with Jack Flaherty over the weekend. The Blue Jays have an opening at third base. The Red Sox have shown interest, though Alex Speier of the Boston Globe has suggested they were reluctant to go beyond four years. The Sox have stayed in contact with the Cardinals regarding Nolan Arenado as well. MLB.com’s John Denton writes that Boston would “prefer” to sign Bregman over an Arenado trade, though that’s difficult to envision unless they push the length beyond their comfort zone.

While players like Flaherty and Pete Alonso have moved to short-term deals to conclude extended free agent stays, Bregman still seems committed to a longer contract. Agent Scott Boras said as much last month. Heyman writes that Bregman expects to sign for at least six years, though he has received offers on shorter terms.

The Astros dipped below the luxury tax threshold when they traded Ryan Pressly to the Cubs, offloading $8.5MM of his $14MM salary. RosterResource estimates their tax number around $237MM, about $4MM below the base threshold. They’d need to go well beyond the tax line to sign Bregman but otherwise prefer to stay under the $241MM marker. If they don’t re-sign Bregman, they’ll have Isaac Paredes at third base. That’d likely leave Jose Altuve as the primary second baseman with a left field mix that could occasionally feature Altuve alongside Mauricio Dubón, Ben Gamel and Zach Dezenzo.

Tigers Still Pursuing Bregman After Flaherty Agreement

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The Tigers made their biggest strike of the offseason last night, agreeing to terms with right-hander Jack Flaherty on a two-year deal that allows him to opt back into free agency at season’s end. He’ll be paid $25MM in 2025 and has a $10MM player option for the 2026 season (that increases to $20MM if he makes 15 starts). Even with that fairly pricey pact in place, the Tigers aren’t closing the door on the other marquee free agent they’ve been chasing. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that Detroit still in pursuit of third baseman Alex Bregman even after signing Flaherty. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press hears the same, writing that the Tigers have “conducted their offseason moves around their interest in signing Bregman,” ultimately passing on several right-handed bats in whom they also had interest (Christian Walker, switch-hitter Anthony Santander, and Ha-Seong Kim).

With Flaherty on the books, the Tigers’ 2025 payroll projects out to about $142MM, per RosterResource’s estimates. They’re up to $156MM in luxury obligations. That leaves them more than $50MM shy of the franchise-record $200MM player payroll and $85MM shy of the $241MM tax threshold. There’s room to accommodate Bregman, be it on a higher-annual value short-term deal with opt-outs or on the type of long-term, six- or seven-year pact he’s been seeking throughout free agency. The only Tigers guaranteed any salary beyond the 2025 season are Flaherty and infielders Colt Keith and Javier Baez. It’s possible — if not likely — that Flaherty will turn down that player option and head back to the market. Baez owed $25MM in 2025 and $24MM in both 2026-27. Keith is owed just over $24MM total through the 2029 season.

Suffice it to say, there’s ample long-term payroll space available if the Tigers decide that a late agreement with Bregman is the optimal finishing piece to an active winter. Adding Bregman would likely mean optioning top prospect Jace Jung to Triple-A Toledo to begin the season, but he’d be a depth option at either third or second in the event of an injury to Bregman or fellow free agent signee Gleyber Torres. Matt Vierling would presumably spend the bulk of his time in right field, though he could spell Bregman at the hot corner when he needs a breather or perhaps gets a rest day at designated hitter.

Any deal between the Tigers and Bregman would surely be the largest pact ever issued under president of baseball operations Scott Harris. In two-plus years on the job — a portion of it still at least partially in rebuild mode — Harris hasn’t gone beyond a two-year guarantee for a free agent. Flaherty and Kenta Maeda are the only two free agents Detroit has signed for two years under Harris, and no free agent has received more than Flaherty’s $35MM guarantee. The Tigers went six years on their extension with Keith, but he’d yet to even make his MLB debut and received a $28.6425MM guarantee.

Bregman reportedly has multiple six-year offers — one from the Astros (valued at at least $156MM) and one from another interested party that is said to contain an opt-out after year one. The Blue Jays have been suggested as the other team, though it’s not expressly clear that they’ve done so (nor is the value of the other six-year offer known). Beyond the Astros, Tigers and Jays, both the Cubs and Red Sox have been involved in Bregman’s market. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score in Chicago reports that as of yesterday afternoon, the Cubs are still in active talks with Bregman’s camp as well. That’s not really a new development, of course, but it’s further indication that none of the five clubs reported to be in pursuit of Bregman has fully backed down as of yet.

Alex Bregman Reportedly Has Six-Year Offer From Club Other Than Astros

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February starts tomorrow but Alex Bregman is still unsigned. Throughout the winter, he has reportedly been sitting on a six-year, $156MM offer from the Astros. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that he also has a “lucrative” six-year offer, with an opt-out after the first year, from another club “that may not be not be high on his list.” Heyman mentions the Cubs, Tigers and Red Sox as clubs that have been in the mix. Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently appeared on Area 45 with Bijani and Creighton and suggested the Blue Jays might have a six-year offer out to Bregman.

The twists and turns of the Bregman saga have been well documented to this point. Going back to the Astros seemed like a strong possibility at the start of the winter and there has clearly been mutual interest in a reunion but a gap in talks when it comes to the financials, with Bregman reportedly looking to get something close to $200MM.

The $156MM offer is close-ish to that but Heyman and Nightengale both relay that Bregman viewed that as a paycut. That offer would come with an average annual value of $26MM. Bregman signed an extension with the Astros back in March of 2019, a five-year, $100MM pact. That was only a $20MM AAV but it was backloaded. Bregman got a $10MM signing bonus and then had a salary of $11MM in the first three years of that deal, followed by salaries of $28.5MM in the last two. Though the recent offer from Houston would have come with an AAV bump compared that entire contract, it appears the immediate downgrade in salary wasn’t satisfactory.

That led to Bregman getting interest from other clubs and the Astros pivoting to other players. They acquired Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker deal and then signed Christian Walker. Those two, along with Jeremy Peña and Jose Altuve, seemed to fill the Houston infield and block Bregman’s path back to the club. More recently, reports have emerged that suggested the door is actually open a crack. The club apparently has some willingness to re-sign Bregman, move Paredes to second and Altuve to left field.

That’s a bit of an awkward fit, but the same could be said of Bregman’s other possible landing spots. The Red Sox have Rafael Devers at third and prospects like Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer charging towards the second base opening. Moving Devers over to first base makes some sense on account of his poor defense, but he seems reluctant to make that move and Boston has Triston Casas at first and Masataka Yoshida a likely designated hitter. The Tigers would be blocking Jace Jung, a top prospect who has already cracked the majors, from regular playing time. The Cubs would similarly be blocking Matt Shaw. The Jays would be blocking a group of potential third baseman that includes Orelvis Martínez, Addison Barger and Ernie Clement.

Financially, the clubs are in different positions, per figures from RosterResource and Cot’s Baseball Contracts. The Tigers project to have an Opening Day payroll of $118MM. That’s well beyond last year’s $98MM figure but they were in the $120-140MM range in the two prior years. Signing Bregman would push them past that but could be justified after last year’s surprise playoff push. As of last week, their talks with Bregman were reportedly at a standstill.

The Cubs have a competitive balance tax number of $207MM and the Red Sox $210MM. This year’s base tax threshold is $241MM, meaning both clubs are more than $30MM away from that line. They have both paid the tax in recent years, so getting to the line or even crossing it can’t be explicitly ruled out, though both clubs reportedly prefer the idea of signing Bregman to a short-term deal.

The Jays, meanwhile, are well above the rest in this group. They project for a $250MM payroll and $273MM CBT number, both of which would be franchise records by significant margins. Last year’s $225MM Opening Day payroll was a new record at the time. They went narrowly over the CBT line in 2023 and were projected to do so again last year, before their disappointing season led to a trade deadline selloff that allowed them to limbo underneath. Though they are in uncharted waters, they reportedly still have wiggle room after agreeing to a deal with Max Scherzer.

The Cubs were the only one of the non-Houston clubs mentioned here to pay the tax in 2024, meaning they would be subject to the stiffest penalties for signing Bregman. Since he rejected a qualifying offer, any club apart from Houston that signs him would be subject to draft pick forfeiture. As a tax payor, the Cubs would forfeit their second- and fifth-highest picks as well as $1MM from next year’s international bonus pool space. The Jays and Red Sox, who didn’t pay the tax and aren’t revenue-sharing recipients, would only forfeit $500K of pool space and their second-highest pick. The Jays already surrendered a pick to sign Anthony Santander, so they would actually surrender their third-highest pick if they also signed Bregman. The Tigers, as a revenue-sharing recipient, would give up their third-best pick. Houston stands to receive compensation if Bregman signs elsewhere, though since they paid the tax last year, they would only receive a pick after the fourth round of the upcoming draft. Re-signing Bregman would take that potential compensation away.

Despite the inelegant roster fits, teams seem to be willing to make it work somehow. An unsigned player this close to the start of spring training would normally have to start considering short-term contracts. That happened last winter with the so-called “Boras Four” of Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger, who all signed in February of March, inking two- or three-year deals including opt-outs. Boras also represents Bregman and Pete Alonso, who are both unsigned now.

Alonso seems likely to be going down the short-term route, having recently discussed some three-year arrangements with the Mets. Reports on Bregman, however, have suggested that’s less likely. Last week, it was reported that Bregman has multiple offers of at least five years. The Astros seem to be one of them, as they have reportedly kept their offer out to Bregman even as they have pursued other moves.

Bregman, it seems, has been stuck in a sort of limbo zone. Based on the reports, he has a decent amount of interest but not quite enough to get up to his asking price, which has led to this holding pattern. MLBTR predicted him for a seven-year deal worth $182MM at the start of the offseason. As mentioned, he was looking to get a bit beyond that, into the $200MM range, but his offers have seemingly come in at a slightly lower level.

The Astros have reportedly had Jorge Polanco as their Bregman backup plan, but he has agreed to return to the Mariners on a new deal. Whether that leads the Astros to increase their offer to Bregman remains to be seen. They are known to be looking for a left-handed outfielder. Signing Polanco, a switch-hitter, would have been an indirect way of doing that. Altuve likely would have ended up in left field but it would have added a lefty bat to the lineup regardless. They could now consider a more direct option like signing Alex Verdugo or Jason Heyward. Bregman is right-handed but a more exciting player overall than either of those two, though the club has been connected to Verdugo this offseason and signed Heyward late last year after he was released by the Dodgers.

Whether or not the Astros pivot with Polanco off the board, it seems other clubs are lurking, perhaps in a similar price range. How this plays out could have ripple effects to other players. The Jays have also been lurking in the Alonso market but surely won’t sign both. Pitchers like Jack Flaherty and Nick Pivetta are also unsigned and have been connected to some of these clubs. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in less than two weeks.

MLBTR Podcast: Ryan Pressly To The Cubs, Bregman’s Future, And Jurickson Profar

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will Ben Cherington get the Pirates a right fielder before spring training? (21:10)
  • What is holding up Jack Flaherty’s market? (23:15)
  • Why is the MLB offseason so different from the other sports? (29:00)
  • Is there a common thread with the unsigned free agents? (32:50)
  • Brett Baty to the Padres and Luis Arráez to the Mets, straight up, no money changing hands. Who says no? (38:45)
  • News of the Pirates signing Adam Frazier breaks during recording (39:25)
  • Back to the Baty-Arráez question (39:50)
  • Should the Cubs get Michael King from the Padres and what would the cost be? (42:50)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Dana Brown Discusses Ryan Pressly, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve

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The Astros have been in the news a lot lately. They traded Ryan Pressly to the Cubs. They reportedly still have the door open a crack for Alex Bregman and, relatedly, have some willingness to move Jose Altuve from second base to left field. General manager Dana Brown addressed those various topics while speaking to the media today, with Chandler Rome of The Athletic among those to report on his comments.

On Pressly, Brown said that the relationship between himself and the reliever “took a slightly different turn” when the club signed Josh Hader going into the 2024 season. “Any time you take a major-league player out of a role where they feel comfortable, it’s going to fracture your relationship some,” Brown said. “I think we continued to communicate. He was a true professional and I kept it real as a true professional myself. Ultimately, I wouldn’t say (the relationship) was the same as (when) we first met, but I think there was some frustration, which I totally understand from a competitor.”

Pressly had been the club’s closer for several years. He racked up 12 saves in the shortened 2020 season and then finished the next three campaigns with between 26 and 33 saves. But the club was looking to bolster the bullpen going into 2024, mostly due to factors unrelated to Pressly. The Astros had lost Héctor Neris, Phil Maton, and Ryne Stanek to free agency and then Kendall Graveman required shoulder surgery that was likely going to keep him out for the entire year.

They decided that the best way to add to the bullpen was to get Hader, signing him to a five-year, $95MM contract. He took over the closing duties in Houston, bumping Pressly to a setup role. It seems Pressly was privately a bit miffed by the change, though he didn’t make any public complaints. He was credited with 25 holds and four saves last year while posting a 3.49 earned run average.

Rumors of a Pressly trade have been floating around all winter. Part of the logic was that the Astros have some desire to avoid the competitive balance tax in 2025, which also provided some motivation for the Kyle Tucker trade. Pressly’s contract pays him $14MM this year, a salary in range of market rates for a solid closer but perhaps a bit high for a setup guy on a club trying to limbo under the tax line.

The complication, from an outside perspective, was Pressly’s 10-and-5 rights. Since he had at least 10 years of service and at least five with the Astros, Pressly had the right to block any trade. Since he’s from Texas, it was fair to wonder how much appetite he had for leaving the Astros, but the reports about the behind-the-scenes discord perhaps shed some light on his decision. By approving a trade to the Cubs, he will get a fresh start and likely get a chance to be a closer again.

For the Astros, they sent $5.5MM to the Cubs in the deal but that still allowed them to clear $8.5MM and duck under the tax, at least for now. Rome adds that Brown is trying to trade Rafael Montero but without getting anywhere. That’s not especially surprising since Montero posted ERAs near 5.00 in each of the past two seasons and has been outrighted off the roster. He is still owed $11.5MM for the final year of his deal, a three-year pact signed in the 2022-23 offseason. At that time, the club had parted ways with GM James Click and had not yet hired Brown. Owner Jim Crane was running the baseball operations department during the interim, a time in which the Astros signed Montero and José Abreu.

It remains to be seen whether the club will stay under the tax line. Recent reporting has suggested that re-signing Bregman is still possible, even though the club has acquired Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker. Those two project as the club’s third and first baseman respectively but the club has apparently considered re-installing Bregman at third, moving Paredes to second and Altuve to left.

Despite those reports, Brown characterized the possibility of re-signing Bregman as a “longshot” last week and continued to downplay the chances today, saying that the plan is something that been the subject of in-house discussions and not something that has been discussed with Bregman’s agent, Scott Boras. “We are definitely having conversations within our front office,” Brown said. “We haven’t reached back out to Boras. At some point, it could turn to that. We’re taking a deep look at what it would look like if we acquired him and how it would look for us financially, does it make sense to do it? I would mostly say it’s all internal conversations as to what we would like to do in terms of Bregman.”

RosterResource currently projects the club’s CBT number as $236MM, just shy of the $241MM base threshold. Signing any player of note would push them back over the line. That’s especially true of Bregman. The Astros have reportedly offered him $156MM over six years, which is an average annual value of $26MM. Rome reported last week that the offer is still on the table, despite the club pivoting to Paredes and Walker, though Brown’s framing of things today suggests their dialogue with Boras has been fairly casual. Bregman has also been connected to clubs like the Tigers, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Cubs but remains unsigned with spring training set to ramp up in about two weeks.

As mentioned, a domino effect of Bregman returning to Houston would be Altuve ending up in left field, though that seems like it could be a factor this year with or without Bregman. “We aren’t taking anything off the table and we’re weighing all options,” Brown said. “We’ll see what it looks like in left field with understanding that he’s going to play some second base or be at second base quite often, depending on what the coaching staff comes up with. But we’re not taking anything off the table in terms of seeing what he looks like in left field.”

Altuve has been almost exclusively a second baseman in his big league career, with six innings at shortstop being his only experience anywhere else. He’s never been regarded as an especially strong defender, but his already-weak metrics have slid even lower of late. Altuve has been worth -82 Defensive Runs Saved over his entire career, with DRS tagging him with a -13 grade or worse in each of the past three seasons.

Moving him to left field is obviously risky on account of his lack of experience out there, though the Crawford Boxes give Daikin Park one of the shallower left fields in the majors, so perhaps it’s easier for the Astros to take such a gamble. Altuve himself recently expressed a willingness to do whatever it takes to bring Bregman back to the club though it’s less clear how he would feel moving to left independent of that.

If Altuve can stick in the outfield, it could help the club out there since that’s a clear weak spot on the roster. The club plans to have Yordan Alvarez spend more time as the designated hitter this year and also traded Tucker. That leaves them with Jake Meyers, Chas McCormick, Taylor Trammell and Mauricio Dubón as their projected group out there. Having Altuve in left without Bregman on the roster could open up second base time for someone like Zach Dezenzo, who has always hit well in the minors but doesn’t currently have a path to regular playing time.

It’s also possible that the club pivots to Jorge Polanco, who is reportedly another free agent the Astros have been in contact with, in addition to Bregman. Polanco is coming off a rough season and just had knee surgery but has a strong pre-2024 track record. The club could consider Polanco in left field as well, though he’s four years younger than Altuve and is a former shortstop.

Polanco is also a switch-hitter, which seems to suit the club’s preferences. In the post-Tucker world, Alvarez is the only lefty projected for regular action as of now. Brown has long said that he would like to add a lefty-swinging outfielder as a way to add balance and reiterated that today, saying that adding a left-handed bat is “sort of a priority.” Adding Polanco and then putting either him or Altuve in left would be an unusual way of accomplishing that but is perhaps more attractive than signing a free agent like Alex Verdugo or Jason Heyward.

There are a lot of moving pieces and they all make the Astros an interesting club to watch in the remainder of the offseason. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in about two weeks.

Astros Have Continued Interest In Jorge Polanco

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The Astros have ongoing interest in Jorge Polanco, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. According to Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Houston could experiment with Polanco in left field if they land him.

That’d be a first for the switch-hitting Polanco, who hasn’t played a single major league inning in the outfield. He has logged over 7500 defensive innings in his career. Nearly all of them have come in the middle infield, while he also has a handful of starts at third base. His professional outfield experience consists of 73 innings in rookie ball in 2011-12.

Playing Polanco in left field would be no less of a roll of the dice than it would be to send Jose Altuve out there. The latter option is seemingly on the table only if the Astros re-sign Alex Bregman, who’d retake his spot at third base while pushing Isaac Paredes to second base. Altuve has never started an MLB game at a position other than second base (or designated hitter), but he indicated over the weekend he’d be happy to try his hand in left field if it meant getting Bregman back on the roster. In any case, the Astros haven’t seemed enamored with the unsigned lefty-hitting outfield options (e.g. Alex Verdugo, Jason Heyward).

Houston’s interest in Polanco seems to be as a fallback if Bregman signs elsewhere. General manager Dana Brown said on Saturday that while Houston has had recent talks with their longtime third baseman, it remains a “long shot” that he’ll return. The Athletic reported last week that the team’s previously reported six-year, $156MM offer remains on the table. However, it’s not clear if the Astros are open to pushing that any further. Unsurprisingly, Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 wrote this afternoon that Bregman was unlikely to return unless the team upped its offer.

While Polanco would obviously be far less expensive, it’s questionable whether he’d fit in Houston’s spending plans. The Astros are set to offload $8.5MM of Ryan Pressly’s salary once his trade to the Cubs is finalized. That dropped the team’s estimated luxury tax number to roughly $236MM (per RosterResource). They’re now about $5MM below the $241MM base tax threshold; they were a little more than $3MM above the line before the Pressly trade.

Houston exceeded the luxury tax threshold last season. That their offer is still out to Bregman confirms they’re open to doing so again in certain circumstances. That’s not surprising with regards to a homegrown star who has been one of the faces of the most successful run in franchise history. Paying the competitive balance tax to accommodate Polanco — who hit .213/.296/.355 in a career-worst season with the Mariners last year — could be a tougher sell for ownership.

It seems likely that Polanco will beat $5MM wherever he winds up. He was one of the game’s better offensive second basemen between 2021-23. He’d played through a patellar tendon injury in his left knee last season. He underwent postseason surgery and is expected to be ready for Opening Day. The knee injury coupled with the challenge of hitting at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park make him an intriguing rebound target as he enters his age-31 season. Even if Polanco ends up settling for less than $5MM, the signing would at least put the Astors right on the border of the threshold. If they prefer to stay below the CBT line, they’d probably need to offload more money in a trade or have limited payroll room for midseason acquisitions.

Mets Notes: Bregman, Nimmo, Minter

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Infielder Alex Bregman remains unsigned, with his market taking some turns recently. While returning to the Astros once seemed impossible, it now seems that door is open a crack. Other teams are still lurking but it doesn’t seem like the Mets will be jumping in. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reports that the Mets are no longer in the running.

The Mets were connected to Bregman earlier this winter but it always seemed like a somewhat less-than-perfect fit since the club has a lot of other options for the infield corners. First baseman Pete Alonso and the club have been in a bit of a staring contest for months and it’s still possible that he comes back to Queens. Even without Alonso, the Mets could have Mark Vientos as their regular first baseman and then have third base open for a competition between Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña. Bregman is reportedly willing to move to second base but the Mets have Jeff McNeil there. McNeil can also play the outfield but the Mets have a somewhat crowded mix there.

Bregman is a more established big leaguer than any of the Mets young options but he wouldn’t come cheap. He reportedly has been unwilling to accept a six-year, $156MM offer from the Astros this winter, hoping to get something in the $200MM range. While the Mets might have had some interest in going with a more certain player like Bregman for the 2025 season, signing Bregman would be a larger commitment in terms of dollars and years. He’s about to turn 31 years old and the Baty/Acuña/Mauricio trio are all in the 22-26 range, so perhaps the Mets would rather dedicate their money elsewhere.

It also seems like Alonso is more likely to sign a short-term pact, having pitched a three-year deal to the Mets, while Bregman is still holding out hope for a long-term deal. Considering all those factors, it seems that a reunion with Alonso is probably more likely than pivoting to giving a big deal to Bregman.

Turning to players already on the roster, the club held Amazin’ Day recently, which allowed members of the media to get updates on certain players. Per two reports from Bill Ladson of MLB.com, both outfielder Brandon Nimmo and left-hander A.J. Minter are hoping to be ready before or around Opening Day.

Nimmo, the longtime Met, was playing through plantar fasciitis in his left foot during the latter parts of last year’s schedule. It’s possible that affected his performance, as he slashed .248/.361/.454 in the first half but just .190/.277/.319 in the second, followed by a tepid .220/.328/.280 performance in the postseason. He tells Ladson that he had an injection in his foot after the season and has ramped up to jogging, but has not yet started sprinting. He says he will probably miss some early spring training games but expects to be ready to go by Opening Day.

Getting a healthy season out of Nimmo hasn’t always been easy. Due to various injuries from 2016 to 2021, he only once topped 92 games and maxed out at 140. In 2022 and 2023, he finally showed what he could do with proper health. He got into at least 151 games in both of those campaigns and slashed a combined .274/.365/.450 for a 131 wRC+. Last year, despite the foot injury, he got into 151 contests but his production dipped to .224/.327/.399 and a 109 wRC+.

Nimmo turns 32 in March but his contract runs through 2030, so the club will obviously want to keep him healthy and productive for as long as possible. The fact that he’s trending towards Opening Day readiness is a good sign but the club will probably opt for playing things slow for long-term health if any speed bumps arise.

Minter, 31, was just signed a few days ago. His 2024 season was ended by left hip surgery in August. Regardless, the Mets liked him enough to give him a two-year, $22MM deal with an opt-out after year one. His recovery timeline in the wake of that procedure has been a little murky but he’s hoping to be ready for the start of the season as well.

“The goal is to be ready for Opening Day, hopefully,” Minter said. “With that being said, my hip does feel really good. I’m happy where I am. I don’t want to put a date on it. … The Mets are going to have their protocols. They want me to take it day by day. But for me, personally, my goal is to be ready close to Opening Day.”

Over the past five years, Minter has posted an earned run average of 2.85 over 267 appearances. He has struck out 30.1% of opponents while limiting walks to a 7.8% clip. His contributions were more limited last year due to the hip injury but the Mets are clearly hoping he can be back to his old self once that’s fully in the rear-view mirror.

Jose Altuve Discusses Alex Bregman, Potential Move To Left Field

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As the top remaining free agent on the market, Alex Bregman has been the talk of baseball in recent days. That conversation bled over into the Astros’ FanFest event today, with a number of key members of the organization (including GM Dana Brown) commenting on Bregman’s free agency and the extent of Houston’s involvement at this stage of the winter. One such commenter was franchise face Jose Altuve. The nine-time All-Star spoke to reporters (including The Athletic’s Chandler Rome) today about Bregman and his free agency and had nothing but glowing remarks for his longtime teammate.

“I said it at the end of the season, said it in the offseason, we need to bring him back,” Altuve said of Bregman, as relayed by Rome. “He’s a big part of this team. You know how negotiations go. He’s a free agent, so he gets the chance to pick the best offer. But as a teammate, I want him back and hopefully we can make something happen for him.”

At the outset of the offseason, Brown made clear that the Astros’ top priority for the winter was keeping Bregman in the fold. Shortly after the winter meetings, however, the odds of a reunion between the two sides began to drastically shrink when the club dealt Kyle Tucker to the Cubs for third baseman Isaac Paredes before following that move up with a failed pursuit of third baseman Nolan Arenado before rounding out their infield by signing first baseman Christian Walker. The additions of Walker and Paredes left the club with an apparently settled infield mix, and at the time Bregman appeared to be receiving strong interest from a number of other clubs.

Since then, however, Bregman’s market has seemed to soften somewhat. The Blue Jays, Tigers, Red Sox, and Cubs have all expressed varying levels of interest in the infielder throughout the winter, but many of those suitors have seemed to have interest in Bregman only as a shorter-term addition while his camp has insisted that he remains focused on landing a long-term deal. The lack of movement in Bregman’s market, in conjunction with some apparent frustration within the Astros clubhouse about the club’s decision to replace Bregman in the lineup, has led the sides to begin talking again with Brown calling the discussions “positive” even as a deal coming together remains “a longshot.”

If the Astros were to successfully re-sign Bregman, that would require the club to make a change to its current infield plan. Bregman would dislodge Paredes from his current anticipated role as the club’s regular third baseman, and with Walker in the fold he wouldn’t be able to take over at first base on a regular basis. Yordan Alvarez’s presence as the club’s regular DH makes a move there similarly impossible. That, according to Rome, has led the Astros to consider the possibility of moving Paredes to second base while kicking Altuve from his career-long home at the keystone into the outfield as the club’s regular left fielder.

For Altuve’s part, he’s made it clear he’s on board if that’s what it takes to get Bregman back into the fold. “I want to win and he’s going to be a guy that’s going to make this team better,” Altuve told reporters, including Rome. “We have a better chance to win a championship with him. That’s my answer: I’m willing to do whatever for him to stay.”

It seems likely that if Bregman was brought back into the fold, that would be the alignment the club uses. Rome notes that manager Joe Espada told reporters today that moving Paredes into the outfield is something the club is “not really thinking about.” Neither Altuve nor Paredes have experience on the grass as professionals, though Paredes’s defense on the infield has generally been better regarded by advanced metrics in recent years. 2024 was a particularly rough season for Altuve with the glove, as he was the worst defensive second baseman in baseball according to Defensive Runs Saved and ahead of only Jorge Polanco according to Outs Above Average and Fielding Run Value.

Paredes, meanwhile, has just 67 games of experience at the keystone across three seasons in the majors but has been a roughly average defender all around the infield to this point in his career. That could make moving Altuve to left field a defensive upgrade to the club’s infield mix while also helping to address the club’s lack of options in the outfield after dealing Tucker. Jake Meyers is locked in as the club’s regular center fielder but the corners appear likely to be shared by Taylor Trammell, Chas McCormick, and Mauricio Dubon as things stand. That trio would be a solid enough solution for one outfield spot but is stretched extremely thin by covering both outfield corners.

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