The New York Yankees continue to look toward upgrading their offense following their setback in the free agent market that was the loss of Juan Soto to the “other” New York team, the Mets. As recently as last weekend, Yankees longtime general manager Brian Cashman suggested that the Bronx Bombers had their potential sights set on free agent third baseman Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros, despite the fact that Bregman was involved in Houston’s 2017 cheating scandal.
Yankee fans and even some players and team executives believe that the elaborate sign-stealing scheme employed by the Astros in that season’s playoffs cost the Yankees a chance to go to the World Series. The Astros overcame a 3-2 deficit to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series to squeak out a 4-3 win and advance to the Fall Classic.
The Astros went on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers, also in seven games, for the first World Series championship in Houston’s franchise history, which dates back to 1962.
Aaron Judge Not in a Forgiving Mood Toward Bregman
Yankees superstar Aaron Judge, who won the AL’s Rookie of the Year Award that season, was especially outspoken.
“I was pretty mad, pretty upset,” Judge said later. “To hear that you got cheated out of that opportunity, that’s tough to kind of let go. I was sick to my stomach.”
But despite Cashman’s statements, Judge can perhaps breathe a sigh of relief because at least according to two prominent Major League Baseball insider journalists, Bregman now appears more likely to sign with the Yankees’ arch-rival Boston Red Sox than to share the Yankees’ clubhouse with Judge.
“If you look at the landscape of potential fits for Bregman — Boston, yes, is a fit at second base or third, depending on how the infield is arranged,” insider Jon Morosi said on an MLB Network broadcast Thursday. “I’m getting the sense that the Red Sox are more of a possibility than the New York Yankees at the moment.”
Rosenthal: Red Sox Likely to Outbid Yankees at This Point
Longtime baseball scoop-chaser Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Fox Sports echoed Morosi’s belief that Bregman is more likely to be headed to Fenway Park than to Yankee Stadium — and that Bregman will not return to the Astros after spending his first nine years there, with two World Series rings to show for it.
“I see Alex Bregman leaving,” Rosenthal said on Thursday’s Foul Territory podcast. “The Astros under (owner) Jim Crane have not been willing to give out these monster contracts.”
Reportedly, Bregman’s agent Scott Boras is seeking a $200 million payday for his client, over a contract of at least seven years. Crane has never signed off on a contract longer than six years, which is the longest the Astros have been said to be prepared to go on Bregman.
Rosenthal said that the Astros have offered Bregman a contract in the $150 million range, but that wasn’t enough for the Gold Glove third baseman. The Red Sox, and possibly the Toronto Blue Jays could offer more, Rosenthal said. While he did not exclude the Yankees from the Bregman chase, Rosenthal added that “it seems to me the Yankees have made their big push with (Max) Fried and now (Cody) Bellinger, as far as a financial commitment is concerned.”
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Yankees Predicted to Back Off Alex Bregman Hunt as Red Sox Now Seen as Favorites