Bregman agrees to 3-year, $120 million deal with Red Sox (source)

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- For the entire offseason, the Red Sox were after a right-handed bat. Among the ones available on the market, Alex Bregman appeared to be the best fit.

The union at last became a reality late Wednesday night, when chief baseball officer Craig Breslow reached an agreement with the free-agent third baseman and two-time World Series champion on a three-year, $120 million deal, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The deal, which has not been confirmed by the club, includes an opt out after 2025 and '26 and some deferrals.

The longtime Astros infielder had an offer from the Tigers for six years and $171.5 million with an opt out after 2026, and an offer from the Cubs for four years and $120 million with opt outs after '26 and '27, per source, but he chose the higher average annual deal with Boston.

Not only does Bregman give the Sox a right-handed power bat to balance out a lefty-heavy lineup, but he should improve an infield defense that led the Majors in errors last season and has arguably been the most glaring weakness for the club the last three seasons. Here's how Boston's Opening Day lineup could look:

Jarren Duran, LF
Rafael Devers, 3B
Alex Bregman, 2B
Triston Casas, 1B
Trevor Story, SS
Masataka Yoshida, DH
Connor Wong, C
Wilyer Abreu, RF
Ceddanne Rafaela, CF

Though Bregman has been a stellar third baseman throughout his career, his most logical fit based on Boston’s current roster is at second base, a position the Red Sox have lacked stability at since Dustin Pedroia’s career essentially ended due to injuries after the 2017 season.

Star slugger Rafael Devers has been Boston’s starting third baseman since his callup to the Majors in July of ’17.

Put Bregman with a now-healthy Trevor Story at shortstop, and Boston’s middle infield should be among the best in the Majors.

Given Bregman’s athleticism, it’s not hard to imagine he could make a smooth transition to second base, a position he’s appeared at nine times in his career.

If the Red Sox trade first baseman Triston Casas or DH Masataka Yoshida, it could open up third base for Bregman, and Devers could transition to first base or DH, or a combination of both.

The Red Sox will have plenty of time to sort all that out in time for Opening Day on March 27 against the Rangers.

In the meantime, they have secured the services of a player who has excelled as a visitor at Fenway Park, putting up a line of .311/.458/.660 with nine homers and 17 RBIs in 131 plate appearances, which includes the three times he faced the Red Sox in the postseason.

Since the moment the Red Sox completed an 81-81 season in 2024, the team’s brass had been adamant in saying the team was ready to put its chips on the table to make a run at the American League East title and end its postseason drought at three years.

The first seeds of that mission were planted in December, when Breslow made a blockbuster trade, acquiring emerging lefty ace Garrett Crochet for two prospects.

Two pitchers with multiple championship rings, righty starter Walker Buehler and lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman, were also acquired before the new year.

But Boston hadn’t made any moves to aid the lineup until Wednesday, when the Bregman deal at last came to fruition.

Manager Alex Cora -- who got to know Bregman when he was the Astros’ bench coach in 2017 -- spoke enthusiastically about the 30-year-old at the Winter Meetings.

“Alex is a good player,” Cora said on Dec. 9 in Dallas. “He's a complete player. He's a player that's been on winning teams his whole career. Good defender. Offensively he's really good. He's a guy that a lot of people are talking about, and I do believe he can impact a big league team, a championship-caliber team. He's that type of player.”

Bregman has never approached his peak offensive performance from 2019, when he finished runner-up to Mike Trout in AL MVP voting, but he remains a well-above-average hitter who squares up the ball frequently and strikes out infrequently.

Never one to have a particularly high hard-hit rate, Bregman had the highest of his career last season, at 40.4%. His 13.6% strikeout rate was in the 94th percentile among qualified hitters, though his 6.9% walk rate was far below his career average of 11.9%. He ranked 10th among 211 qualified hitters in squared-up rate, according to Statcast.

Bregman has also been pretty durable, playing in at least 145 games in every full season (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 schedule) but one since 2017. He brings extensive postseason experience, having been on the dynastic Astros teams of the past seven years -- over eight postseasons, Bregman has played in 99 games with 19 home runs and a .789 OPS.

In 2024, Bregman had 30 doubles and 26 homers while slashing .260/.315/.453. His career line is .272/.366/.483.