Alex Bregman's Huge Red Sox Contract Includes 'Significant' Deferrals

The All-Star agreed a three-year deal worth $120 million with Boston on Wednesday night.
Bregman was the last big-name free agent on the market
Bregman was the last big-name free agent on the market / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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The Alex Bregman sweepstakes finally came to a conclusion on Wednesday night and the Boston Red Sox found themselves the winner. After months of rumors connecting the two sides, reports emerged that Bregman had agreed to a three-year, $120 million deal to play at Fenway Park. It's a natural match as far as what Bregman was looking for financially and what the Red Sox needed as they enter spring training.

Those reports also revealed Bregman's contract would include deferred money, which is all the rage in MLB nowadays after the Los Angeles Dodgers deferred an enormous amount of money on Shohei Ohtani's contract to ensure they could keep a championship roster around him. On Thursday, ESPN's Buster Olney revealed what Bregman's deferred money will be.

Per the longtime MLB insider, a third of Bregman's deal is expected to be deferred— $40 million in deferred money. Which means, in the eyes of Boston's book-keeping operation, Bregman's deal is actually worth $90 million over three years.

The Red Sox appear unlikely at this juncture to immediately take advantage of whatever financial wiggle room gained by giving Bregman deferred money.

But clearly it was part of what finally got the deal over the finish line, so Boston fans should be pleased regardless. Bregman is a great fit and gives the lineup an extra shot of talent that it would've dearly missed otherwise.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.