On Sunday, the Boston Red Sox and Aroldis Chapman agreed to an extension, keeping him until the 2026 season with a club option for 2027. The deal is worth $12 million next season, followed by a $13 million vesting option the following year. Now that Chapman is locked down, Red Sox fans are wondering who will be next.
Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow has shown that he's committed to the future of this ballclub, regardless of the mixed opinions about his 2025 trade deadline. With that in mind, third baseman Alex Bregman should be the next stud Boston secures.
Red Sox Must Secure Alex Bregman After Extending Aroldis Chapman
Bregman has been one of the best free agent signings the Red Sox have made since J.D. Martinez in 2018. Although Walker Buehler didn't work out in Boston, Bregman has reverted to his 2019 MVP form, dominating the AL East at any pitch thrown or hit to him.
This season, he's been amazing, batting .281 with 16 home runs and 54 RBIs, with a .485 slugging percentage and a .849 OPS with an OPS+ of 133 (the highest on the roster with more than 80 games played).
So far, Bregman has been worth every penny of the three-year, $120 million deal he signed. The problem is that his deal has two opt-outs, and one of them is after this season.
Bregman has been a Scott Boras client for years, who's known for making players test the market in free agency for a higher and better deal, regardless of whether it's from the Red Sox to re-sign him or another team.
One of them is from former Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts. There were other deals available, but he accepted the San Diego Padres' offer, which conveniently had 11 years and was worth $280 million. Another one was Martinez, who signed with Boston on a five-year, $118 million contract (and was stuck in negotiation limbo with the Red Sox for a few months before signing as well).
The consistent part of this is that neither player re-signed with their old teams. Martinez was originally in Arizona before heading to Beantown, whereas Bogaerts left Boston for the deal with San Diego.
The Red Sox need to put pen to paper before free agency hits this offseason, as Bregman is already tabling extension talks until the end of the current season. He wants to stay in Boston, but if the Red Sox refuse to play ball, he'll be next to gone in three months.