Alex Bregman, a key player in the Houston Astros’ rise to prominence in the American League, is leaving the team he has always known.
Bregman has agreed to a three-year, $120 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, according to a league source. This marks the end of a 10-year relationship with the Astros, where he rose to prominence. Bregman joins the Red Sox to reunite with former Astros bench coach and current Boston manager Alex Cora.
Alex Bregman's contract with the Red Sox is for three years and $120 million, source tells @TheAthletic. Opt outs after each season.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 13, 2025
Bregman was ranked third among position players on The Athletic’s Free Agent Big Board, behind Juan Soto and Willy Adames. Soto and Adames signed by early December, while Bregman’s market lasted until February, allowing the Astros and other teams, notably the Chicago Cubs, to participate.
Tim Britton of The Athletic predicted Bregman would sign a seven-year, $189 million contract. Instead, Bregman agreed to a shorter-term, higher-AAV contract with opt-outs after each of the three seasons.
Bregman was selected second overall in the 2015 draft and played only 146 minor-league games before making his major-league debut on July 25, 2016. Bregman transformed himself over the following eight years into one of Houston’s most recognizable figures and one of the sport’s most accomplished third basemen.
According to FanGraphs, Bregman is second only to Cleveland Guardians great José Ramírez in terms of wins above replacement among third basemen since 2017. Bregman led the Astros to four American League pennants, three more, and two World Series championships while playing third base.
In 2018 and 2019, Bregman earned more fWAR than only Mike Trout, indicating his potential to become a baseball superstar. He earned MVP of the 2019 All-Star Game, placed second behind Trout in AL MVP voting, and had a home run battle with Soto during the World Series.
After the Astros lost to Soto’s Nationals in Game 7, The Athletic released specifics of Houston’s computerized sign-stealing at Minute Maid Park in 2017 and 2018. Following Major League Baseball’s suspension, Bregman’s presence and prepared words during a team-initiated press conference sparked public and sport-wide outrage.
Some of the braggadocio Bregman displayed during the previous two seasons disappeared, but his behind-the-scenes leadership did not. Multiple teammates during the past two seasons called Bregman the unquestioned leader of Houston’s clubhouse — a player with an advanced baseball IQ and ability to analyze the game faster than anyone they’d ever seen.
On the field, nagging soft tissue injuries, chronic slow starts and a gradual power decline prevented Bregman from sustaining his seismic rise. After hitting 99 home runs in his first four seasons, Bregman has managed 92 during his past five. Bregman remains an on-base machine with pristine plate discipline, but a plummeting walk rate this season invited some concern.
Bregman hasn’t made an All-Star team since 2019, nor has he finished in the top-10 of MVP voting, but remains one of the sport’s most surehanded defenders with a postseason pedigree few others can match. Bregman won his first Gold Glove Award in 2024 after three other years as a finalist.
Bregman has taken 434 plate appearances across 99 career postseason games. Among active players, only longtime teammate Jose Altuve has appeared in more. Agent Scott Boras seized upon Bregman’s playoff experience at the onset of his free agency, describing his potential arrival as an “infusion of championship blood” for any organization. The Astros advanced to the American League Championship Series in all but one of Bregman’s eight full seasons — the 2024 season.
In September, Altuve all but demanded that Houston’s baseball operations department retain Bregman, whom Altuve said “made this entire organization better than where we were before him.”
