Report: Astros, Alex Bregman Agree to Six-Year, $100 Million Extension
The Houston Astros and third baseman Alex Bregman have agreed to a six-year, $100 million extension, according to Fox 26's Mark Berman.
Overall, Bregman, 24, will be with the Astros for the next six years since he is already under contract with the club for the impending 2019 season. The extension buys out his next three arbitration-eligible years (2020-22) and the first two years of his free agency (2023-24) and comes after Bregman recently criticized the Astros' spending.
Houston renewed Bregman's contract for the 2019 season last week at $640,500, but the third baseman was upset that he and the club couldn't reach a higher agreement.
"I'm just disappointed and I feel like I outperformed that last year," Bregman said, per MLB.com. "I understand that it's a business, but I feel like good business would be wanting to make a player who performed at a high level on your team happy and want to feel like he wanted to be kept and feel like they wanted him to play here forever."
Last year, the Astros signed second baseman Jose Altuve to a five-year, $151 million extension last year.
Bregman's deal is the second-highest deal given to a pre-arbitration player behind Angels star Mike Trout, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggert. Trout and the Angels agreed to a six-year, $144 million deal in 2014. However, the Angels locked Trout in for another 10 years on Tuesday when they reportedly inked a 12-year, $430 million extension with the outfielder. The extension was tacked onto Trout's current contract, which was set to expire in 2020.
The Astros selected Bregman in the first round of the 2015 draft out of LSU. He was part of the young core of players that included Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa that helped lead Houston to a 2017 World Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bregman finished 2018 with a .286/.394/.532 slash line with 103 RBIs and 31 home runs while also receiving his first All-Star bid.
