It has been a little more than nine years since the Astros made Alex Bregman their first-round pick—No. 2 overall out of LSU—and in that span, he has known no other organization. In fact, he barely knows any other team. He was brought up to Houston after just 146 games played in the team’s minor-league system.
Now, though, the five-year, $100 million contract Bregman signed with the Astros in 2019 is set to run up, and though Bregman will almost certainly be playing some number of games in Houston in the upcoming MLB playoffs, he is heading into his final regular-season homestand before he hits offseason free agency.
And fellow star Jose Altuve, a lifelong Astros infielder who has been paired in the lineup with Bregman throughout his career, can’t bear the thought of Bregman suiting up elsewhere.
“I don’t see any chances of him leaving,” Altuve said this week, via The Athletic. “That might be just me. I really think that, at the end of the season, our front office people, GM and ownership (are) going to get a deal done for him. I don’t think — I’m sure — that we are not only a better team with him, but we are a better organization with him. We really need to make it happen.”
Astros Should ‘Pay Breggy Whatever He Wants’
But the fact is that Bregman likely will wind up landing with the highest bidder. He may be inclined to pick the Astros if the money is nearly the same, but his agent is Scott Boras, who is not big on hometown discounts for his clients.
The Yankees, potentially in the market for a third baseman, are considered a potential suitor for Bregman. So are the Red Sox, who badly need a right-handed power hitter. The Cubs are another possibility. A bidding war would drive up Bregman’s price.
Bregman has a market value, according to the contract website Spotrac, of $30 million per year, or $120 million for four years. The Astros probably should pay that. But will they? That’s another matter.
“I don’t have control, but if I could, I would just pay Breggy whatever he wants. His professionalism, his desire to win and his desire to get better at the stage he is — he’s a superstar — that’s really hard to find. You don’t find a lot of guys trying to get better like he does every single year, every single day. We really need to reward guys like him.”
Alex Bregman Bounced Back From Bad Start
Altuve, even at age 34, got paid by the Astros, who granted him a five-year, $125 million contract. He has put together an All-Star season in Houston.
But Bregman has had a much different year. He was batting .206 on Memorial Day weekend, with just a .273 on-base percentage and a .317 slugging percentage. The Astros would slide to 24-32 that week, 6.5 games back in the AL West.
Since then, it’s been a resurrection for both Bregman and the Astros. They’ve gone 58-38 since late May, and are now five games ahead of the Mariners for the division lead. Their postseason odds have risen to 99%, and Bregman has been a driver of that, batting .281 with a .334 on-base percentage and a .506 slugging percentage since May 28.
He’s got at least one more playoff run with the Astros in him. Before that, he has one more homestand in Houston—hopefully, for Altuve, not his last.
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