The Boston Red Sox are not in the market for a third baseman this offseason. The New York Yankees are. Or at least, they should be, since their incumbent at the position, Jazz Chisolm Jr., is a natural second baseman. In Boston, three-time All Star Rafael Devers, who through his age 27 season had hit 200 home runs and who is entering just the third season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract, would appear to have a permanent hold on the Fenway Park hot corner.
And yet, reportedly, it is the Yankees who are seen as the longshots to land Bregman, a 30-year-old Gold Glover at the position who is expected to command a contract in the neighborhood of $200 million. That opinion has been voiced by baseball insiders close to the Yankees, including Jack Curry of the Yankees’ own YES Network cable TV outlet.
The Yankees now appear to be leaning toward installing 36-year-old often-injured veteran D.J. Lemahieu at third base, though Lemahieu has also played more second base than third in his 14-year career.
Ken Rosenthal Calls Boston the ‘Logical’ Bregman Team
It all seems to defy logic, but on his Foul Territory podcast Thursday, Ken Rosenthal — a three-decade veteran of Major League Baseball coverage and now a senior baseball writer for The Athletic — said that the Red Sox are the “logical” spot for Bregman to end up.
Not only are the Yankees effectively out, but according to Rosenthal, so are the Detroit Tigers who have been seen as a preferred destination for Bregman where he would reunite with his 2017 World Series winning manager fron the Houston Astros, A.J. Hinch.
“He’s a great fit for the Tigers, and I just don’t expect the Tigers to spend,” Rosenthal said. “Bregman to the Red Sox to me is a move that seems very logical. They need a right handed bat. They’ve needed that really since last season. Bregman can play second base for them, or they can play him at third and move Devers over to first, or DH him and have him in some combination with (Triston) Casas. But it seems that second base is the more logical destination for Bregman if he goes there.”
Most Experts Still See Red Sox as Longshots for Bregman
Nonetheless, Rosenthal appears to be in the minority among baseball writers in naming Boston as the favorite to land Bregman. Other MLB insider journalists, such as Jon Heyman of the New York Post and Jon Morosi of MLB Network name Detroit and the Toronto Blue Jays as co-favorites to obtain Bregman’s services. Robert Murray of Fansided also favors the Tigers for Bregman while adding, on a recent podcast, that the free agent third baseman landing in Boston “isn’t the most likeliest scenario in the entire world.”
Heyman also believes that while the Red Sox may have once been the frontrunners in the Bregman chase, their odds have narrowed.
“I think the Red Sox are an outside possibility at this point,” he said this week. “I don’t think it’s as strong as it was previously.”
Heyman also said, however, that, “I’m going to leave the Red Sox on my list for Bregman,” so the Yankees’ hated rivals appear to remain in the running, even if the Bronx Bombers do not.
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Yankees’ Hated Rival Now ‘Very Logical’ Team For Alex Bregman, MLB Insider Says