The Houston Astros are facing a tough choice this winter. In recent years, the team has seen 21st-century legends like Carlos Correa and George Springer leave. This offseason, Alex Bregman may be the next key player they could lose to free agency.
Bregman is expected to secure a contract exceeding $100 million, with Spotrac estimating a four-year, $119 million deal. However, with Scott Boras as his agent, the outcome of negotiations is uncertain.
Recently, FanSided’s Nick Villano projected where the top 20 free agents would sign this winter. Villano predicted that Bregman would join the Detroit Tigers rather than returning to the Astros.
“They (The Tigers) managed to win enough games to reach the playoffs, even advancing to Game 5 of the ALDS after sweeping the Astros in the Wild Card round,” Villano wrote. “Bregman choosing the Tigers would be him betting on the team’s young talent to evolve into the next version of the Astros. He could become the star as the rest of the team continues to develop.”
For the Tigers to realistically land Bregman, they would have to outbid the Astros (and the rest of the league) pretty significantly. Bregman is quite likely to give the Astros some sort of hometown discount.
If the Astros are caught up chasing other free agents, they could easily lose Bregman. But if Houston wants him back, it’s going to be quite difficult for the Tigers to pry him from Houston’s grasp.
