{"id":514923,"date":"2026-01-11T09:45:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T09:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/514923\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T09:45:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T09:45:13","slug":"alex-bregman-contract-details-detroit-tigers-target-lands-with-cubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/514923\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Bregman contract details: Detroit Tigers target lands with Cubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a one-season stopover in Boston, Alex Bregman found his permanent home with another of MLB’s oldest franchises \u2212 the Chicago Cubs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bregman and the Cubs agreed to a five-year, $175 million contract on Saturday, Jan. 10, according to a person with direct knowledge of the agreement. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been finalized.<\/p>\n

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And so ends Bregman’s second crack at free agency, after his initial go-round ended with him signing a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox<\/a> that contained opt-out clauses after every season. Bregman exercised that right knowing he’d be unencumbered by draft pick compensation and likely fare much better.<\/p>\n

WHAT’S NEXT: 3 priorities for Detroit Tigers in 2026, including George Springer<\/a><\/p>\n

In the 2024-25 offseason, the Detroit Tigers<\/a>, Cubs and Red Sox<\/a> were the three finalists. Bregman\u00a0signed with the Red Sox for three years, $120 million with opt-outs after 2025 and 2026<\/a>, turning down\u00a0six years, $171.5 million with an opt-out after 2026 from the Tigers<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0four years, $120 million with opt-outs after 2026 and 2027 from the Cubs<\/a>. The Tigers put the lone long-term offer on the table, but Bregman declined it for the most money per year and the flexibility to return to free agency as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

It took a couple months, but his strategy worked out with the Cubs extending the largest average annual deal \u2212 $35 million per season \u2212 in franchise history.<\/p>\n

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Bregman was a Tigers free agency target the past two offseasons, though the second go-round featured Detroit taking a wait-and-see approach as the market settled. Last winter, Bregman turned down the Tigers<\/a> \u2013\u00a0but the Tigers also\u00a0turned down two offers from Bregman<\/a>. The first offer was\u00a0seven years and $200 million<\/a>. The second offer was\u00a0six years and $186 million with an opt-out after 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“When you chase a guy all winter, and you end up not being the team picked, you oftentimes are connected to him forever,” Tigers manager\u00a0A.J. Hinch<\/a>\u00a0said Dec. 9 on\u00a0MLB Network Radio<\/a>\u00a0about Bregman, whom he managed from 2016-19 with the Houston Astros<\/a>. “He’s such a terrific person and player. I love him. There was a moment last offseason I didn’t love him as much, when he didn’t come to be a Tiger. These elite players immediately make teams better. It just has to line up both ways. I think that’s the thing. Players have choices. Teams do too.”<\/p>\n

For his work with the Red Sox and Cubs, Bregman will make approximately $215 million over six seasons \u2013 $40 million from Boston for the 2025 season, and $175 million from Chicago for the next five.<\/p>\n

He’ll join Dansby Swanson on the left side of the Cubs infield and inject a swagger into a club that was eliminated in the NLDS by the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> this past season.<\/p>\n

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Swanson and Bregman were chosen No. 1 and 2 overall in the 2015 draft by Arizona and Houston, respectively, Bregman responding to the snub by wearing No. 2 throughout his career.<\/p>\n

The Cubs deployed rookie Matt Shaw at third base last season, and he showed progress on both sides of the ball as the season progressed. However, he finished with a .226 average and an adjusted OPS worse than league average; Cubs third basemen finished 29th in OPS (.621) and 27th in homers (11). The club may also lose second baseman Nico Hoerner to free agency after 2026, potentially creating everyday room for both Bregman and Shaw.<\/p>\n

Bregman was an All-Star in his lone season with Boston, hitting 17 home runs with an .821 OPS, helping the Red Sox get back to the playoffs for the first time in four years despite being limited to 114 games by injury.<\/p>\n

A two-time champion (2017, 2022) with the Houston Astros<\/a>, Bregman has been one of MLB’s most productive players since debuting in 2016. Bregman’s best year was 2019, slugging 41 home runs with 112 RBIs and a 1.015 OPS but the Astros lost the World Series in seven games.<\/p>\n

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Bregman was implicated in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal but faced no punishment from the league as Houston players were granted immunity for cooperating with MLB’s investigation.<\/p>\n

Alex Bregman contract details<\/p>\n

Bregman is signing a five-year, $175 million deal with the Chicago Cubs<\/a>. It contains no opt-outs.<\/p>\n

Alex Bregman stats<\/p>\n

Bregman has an .846 career OPS in 1,225 games since making his debut for the Astros in 2016.<\/p>\n

2025: 3.5 WAR, 18 HR, 62 RBIs in 114 games<\/p>\n

2024: 4.1 WAR, 26 HR, 75 RBIs in 145 games<\/p>\n

2023: 4.9 WAR, 25 HR, 98 RBIs in 161 games<\/p>\n

2022: 4.5 WAR, 23 HR, 93 RBIs in 155 games<\/p>\n

2021: 2.3 WAR, 12 HR, 55 RBIs in 91 games<\/p>\n

2020: 6 HR, 22 RBI in 42 games (COVID season)<\/p>\n

2019: 8.9 WAR, 41 HR, 112 RBIs in 156 games<\/p>\n

2018: 7.6 WAR, 31 HR, 103 RBIs in 157 games<\/p>\n

2017: 4.3 WAR, 19 HR, 71 RBIs in 155 games<\/p>\n

2016: 2.1 WAR, 8 HR, 34 RBIs in 49 games<\/p>\n

Free Press sports writers Ryan Ford and Evan Petzold contributed to this story.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alex Bregman signing with Chicago Cubs, not Detroit Tigers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a one-season stopover in Boston, Alex Bregman found his permanent home with another of MLB’s oldest franchises…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2386],"tags":[72,146,5,141,24,733,147,53,2583,311,54,716,59,4,33,89,1323,594],"class_list":{"0":"post-514923","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-tigers","8":"tag-alex-bregman","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-boston","12":"tag-chicago-cubs","13":"tag-dansby-swanson","14":"tag-detroit","15":"tag-detroit-tigers","16":"tag-detroittigers","17":"tag-george-springer","18":"tag-houston-astros","19":"tag-matt-shaw","20":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","21":"tag-mlb","22":"tag-nico-hoerner","23":"tag-red-sox","24":"tag-the-tigers","25":"tag-tigers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115875828412307039","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}