Houston Astros Star Alex Bregman Gives Update on His Free Agent Wishlist

Houston Astros free agent third baseman Alex Bregman recently provided an update on what he is looking for in a new contract moving forward.

Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman warms up before playing against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park. | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The saga of former Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman continues, as he looks to find a new contract which may end up being his last large-scale one pending how long it is.

Now as spring training looms, he has less and less time to make a decision on where he wants to go and where he wants to potentially spend the next few seasons.

One of the things he and agent Scott Boras have remained firm on is the length of the contract, as they have significantly preferred to keep the deal on the longer side of things.

This interest was re-stated on Thursday, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Bregman is still looking for a six or seven-year contract, and that he has "no interest" in a short-term deal.

Managing expectations and reality is a difficult part of the offseason process in some cases, as there have been multiple instances of players having to take significantly reduced deals near the end of the offseason to prove themselves once again.

With Pete Alonso and the New York Mets recently agreeing on a two-year deal with an opt-out after 2025, some players may begin to accept shorter "prove-it" deals to ensure they have time to ramp up their training with new teams.

This seems to not be the case for Bregman however, as he waits the free agent market out and will look to find a contract that suits him. With the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Astros still interested in a deal, it will be interesting to see if any of them are willing to fulfill his demands and offer a long-term contract, considering this has played out for so long already.

It is understandable why Bregman would prefer to sign a long-term contract at this point, and considering the quality production he has had on the field, there will likely be a team to provide an offer in that realm as there become fewer options.

While his offensive production has remained around the same level for the past few seasons, his defensive production has gotten even better with time, and he ended up with his first Gold Glove award in 2024.

The bat production in 2024 was strong as well, with .260/.315/768 batting splits, 75 RBI, 79 runs, 86 strikeouts to 44 walks, 26 home runs and a 118 OPS+. This type of production is not the best we have ever seen out of him, but it is still good enough to validate a long-term deal in most cases, and his strengths should play well in multiple other ballparks should he choose to leave Houston.