After the Boston Red Sox, on the cusp of spring training last year, signed two-time World Series-winning third baseman Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million contract, team owner John Henry posted a picture of himself on social media lighting up a cigar.
Henry’s celebration showed that he knew how important it was to acquire Bregman, and he was proved correct when the Red Sox got to the postseason for the first time since 2021, and only the second since winning the World Series in 2018.
But there was a pretty big catch. Bregman’s contract came with a player option to continue or cancel the deal after one year. Once the season was over, Bregman took it, becoming a free agent for the second year in a row.
There seems to be no question, however, that the Red Sox want Bregman back. The real question is how much they are willing to pay to get him. One longtime MLB insider offered an answer to that question on Tuesday.
Olney Puts Numbers on Red Sox Offer
ESPN insider Buster Olney last week reported in a radio interview that the Red Sox had already made an “aggressive offer” to bring Bregman — who will be playing his age-32 season this year — back to Fenway Park.
On Tuesday, Olney gave an indication of how aggressive that “big money” offer may have been.
“The Boston Red Sox want Bregman and have signaled a willingness to pay him big money,” Olney said in an analysis published jointly with ESPN.com staff writer Jesse Rogers on Tuesday morning. “Perhaps something in the range of what the Tigers offered him last spring, a six-year, $171.5 million deal.”
Bregman Would Take Annual Pay Cut
If those numbers prove accurate, the Red Sox would be paying Bregman an average annual salary of nearly $29 million. That obviously is, indeed, “big money.” But on a yearly basis it would be a substantial cut from the $40 million that Bregman earned last season, and would have earned in each of the two upcoming seasons.
It should be noted, however, that Bregman’s Red Sox contract deferred $20 million of his $40 million salary, which last season included a $5 million signing bonus making his actual salary $35 million.
The deferments mean that starting in 2035, the Red Sox will pay Bregman $2 million per year through the year 2044.
Will 6 years be Enough to Lure Bregman?
The reason Bregman would be willing to take what amounts to more than a 25 percent annual pay cut would clearly be the security offered by a longer-term contract of the kind the Red Sox have been notoriously unwilling to give to players over age 30.
If Olney’s reporting is correct, the Red Sox would be willing to break with their usual practice to bring Bregman back. But does the length of the supposed contract offer call Olney’s figures into question?
“If the Red Sox have six years on the table, though, what is Bregman waiting for?” asked SI.com writer Jackson Roberts on Tuesday.
It seems unlikely that any team would be willing to offer Bregman, who missed 48 games with a leg injury last season, a deal that would take him past age 37 — or one that would pay him more than $29 million per year up to that age.
If Olney’s claim is right, it’s not unreasonable to expect a decision from Bregman sometime in the very near future.
Alex Bregman Predicted to Get $171.5 Million Red Sox Offer: Insider