Latest Alex Bregman-Diamondbacks Update Will Make Red Sox Fans Nervous

How deep are the D-backs' pockets?

Sep 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

It seems as though the Arizona Diamondbacks' interest in Alex Bregman is genuine.

While it's well-known that agent Scott Boras loves to stir the pot, there simply couldn't be this much smoke connecting a team to a free agent if the team didn't want the player. And to Boston Red Sox fans hoping Bregman returns, hearing a week of news about another National League West team potentially nabbing a Boston All-Star hasn't been sitting well.

On Wednesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic published a report that made it seem as though the D-backs wouldn't be able to sign Bregman unless they traded second baseman Ketel Marte, a known target of Boston's. That may have been reassuring to some, but evidently, it also was not gospel.

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D-backs could sign Bregman, keep Marte

On Thursday, Rosenthal reported anew on the matter and the update was that Bregman and Marte could theoretically coexist in the Arizona lineup next year, though he maintained that a Marte trade was the most realistic pathway to making a Bregman signing work.

"A scenario exists in which the Arizona Diamondbacks would both sign free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman and keep second baseman Ketel Marte," wrote Rosenthal.

At this point, it's all a leverage game, and because there might be scenarios on the table where Bregman and Marte both wind up on either the Diamondbacks and Red Sox, both teams have to play their hands very carefully.

So whatever the D-backs do, they can't admit that signing Bregman would make keeping Marte unfeasible, whether that's a public comment or a bit of info deliberately revealed to a member of the media.

Yet, as Rosenthal acknowledged, Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick can expand and contract his payroll at the drop of a hat, depending on how he feels about his team's chances to win. Kendrick fielded a much higher payroll than expected this year as a result of signing Corbin Burnes.

Could the Red Sox get caught with their hands in their pockets as the Diamondbacks blow past last year's threshold?

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