Here we are again.<\/p>\n
In the \u2018Groundhog Day\u2019-esque nightmare that never ends, the \u2018urgent\u2019 and \u2018engaged\u2019 Boston Red Sox are up a creek without a paddle, vessel, and excuse, having lost out on a top \u2013 and very sign-able \u2013 free-agent target once again.<\/p>\n
Alex Bregman, who spoke on more than one occasion during his lone Red Sox season about how much he enjoyed being in Boston and on the team, and made it clear he would welcome a long-term extension, will instead be a Chicago Cub for most, if not the rest of his playing career.<\/p>\n
Several similar debacles have plagued the team over the last six years, but this one may just take the cake. Let\u2019s unpack why.<\/p>\n
Facts and figures<\/p>\n
The Red Sox offered Bregman five years, $165 million, not far off monetarily from the Cubs\u2019 winning bid of five years and $175 million. Both proposals included deferrals, though Boston\u2019s structure was reportedly decades long.<\/p>\n
Chicago pursued Bregman last offseason, too. They landed him the second time around not because the price tag was significantly higher, but because they understood his priorities.<\/p>\n
A father of two sons under four, Bregman made it clear he wanted a place his family could call home long-term. In other words, the security of a full no-trade clause.<\/p>\n
Boston\u2019s unwillingness to budge on the NTC, more than anything, sunk them. Bregman couldn\u2019t trust that they would hold on to him for the entirety of the five years they offered him; he had a front-row seat last June, when the Red Sox dumped Rafael Devers on the San Francisco Giants, less than two years into his franchise-record 10-year, $313.5 million extension. Which brings us to\u2026<\/p>\n
The Devers disaster<\/p>\n
What makes Bregman\u2019s decision an even worse failure for the Red Sox is that they haven\u2019t lost one star player.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve lost two.<\/p>\n
In that way, though perhaps this is the recency bias talking, it may be worse than the Mookie Betts trade. Maybe. (More on this in a moment.)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s impossible to discuss Bregman without Devers. The Red Sox made sure of that when they misled Devers for months about their targets and bids, signed Bregman the first weekend of spring training \u201924, and gave him Devers\u2019 job.<\/p>\n
Devers was justifiably outraged. In the unwritten rules of this traditional sport, proven veteran players and franchise cornerstones are accorded a certain level of respect. As the club\u2019s longest-tenured player and only remaining World Series champion, he felt it was disrespectful to not have a conversation with him before signing Bregman. Especially, Devers claimed, because he had been promised long-term positional security when then-chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom signed him to the extension.<\/p>\n
Manager Alex Cora\u2019s response: \u201cChaim is in St. Louis.\u201d<\/p>\n
From start to finish, the Red Sox deployed a careless, thoughtless, and passive stratagem.<\/p>\n
It would have been one thing if Bregman\u2019s deal wasn\u2019t tantamount to a one-year deal with choose-your-own adventure player opt-outs for the second and third seasons.<\/p>\n
Or if the Red Sox had played him at second, instead of forcing Devers off third and into the designated hitter role.<\/p>\n
Or if they had platooned them, making them co-third-basemen who alternated as the DH.<\/p>\n
But the Red Sox destroyed and ended their relationship with their only true power hitter and proven winner for a player who, though an undeniably excellent addition, was here for 117 total games.<\/p>\n
When the Red Sox traded Devers in mid-June, they should have immediately poured that money into Bregman, who was on the injured list at the time and vocal about wanting to stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a risky strategy for the Red Sox,\u201d I wrote in my Opening Day \u201825 column<\/a>. \u201cIf Bregman opts out at season\u2019s end, what then? Does Devers go back to third, or do the Red Sox again give the position he wants to someone else? \u2026 That\u2019s a problem for another day, but it\u2019s a legitimate possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, it\u2019s today\u2019s problem. And the next day\u2019s.<\/p>\n Worst of the worst?<\/p>\n The Betts trade was a mistake of Babe Ruth-ian proportions.<\/p>\n But unlike subsequent superstar-related debacles, the Red Sox could make some flimsy, but legitimate enough, excuses. They were coming off a winning, albeit disappointing season, and four championships in 15 years when they salary-dumped Betts and David Price on the eager Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020.<\/p>\n The move came after months of Betts\u2019 repeated declarations that he would test free agency after the \u201820 season no matter what the Red Sox offered \u2013 though only after they insulted him with a lowball offer right after his tremendous \u201818 season \u2013 and as the club entered a farm system rebuild and (self-imposed) financial reset under a new leader in Bloom.<\/p>\n The present-day Red Sox are on the other side of that rebuild, and have no legs on which to stand in this entirely avoidable calamity of losing both Devers and Bregman.<\/p>\n The impact<\/p>\n Each missed opportunity to add or retain a star has saved the Red Sox countless millions.<\/p>\n They have lost infinitely more in every other way.<\/p>\n They were just starting to make inroads with both fans and free agents, after trading Betts, shoving Xander Bogaerts out the door, and so many other messes and mistakes. Goodwill slowly built last offseason as chief baseball officer Craig Breslow acquired ace left-hander Garrett Crochet, signed Bregman, extended Crochet and rookies Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony, and the team made the postseason for the first time since \u201921.<\/p>\n Why would anyone trust the Red Sox now?<\/p>\n They were having a difficult enough time luring free agents before this latest development.\u00a0Under current ownership, they first transformed themselves into the ultimate, elite destination for players, then turned themselves into a last resort. Imagine telling someone in 2018 that a free agent presented with identical three-year, $40 million offers from the Red Sox and Rays would choose the latter (Zach Eflin). Or that someone would choose a one-year deal with the Dodgers over a multi-year offer from the Red Sox (Teoscar Hernandez).<\/p>\n The irony is that the Red Sox used to undervalue and lose proven homegrown stars and overvalue and overcorrect with free agents. Jon Lester, replaced with Price, for example.<\/p>\n Now, they aren\u2019t even doing the overvaluing and overcorrecting. They have the fifth-most expensive tickets in the majors, and rank 23rd in revenue spent on players.<\/p>\n When a player does want to stay in Boston, like Bregman or Bogaerts, the Red Sox wait too long and are too cautious or unyielding to get a deal done. Refusing to give Bregman a full NTC certainly won\u2019t endear them to other family-focused players.<\/p>\n Breslow\u2019s longest free agent contract was Bregman\u2019s three years that turned into one. Perhaps Bregman\u2019s new five-year pact will age badly, as he turns 32 on March 30, but it doesn\u2019t really matter.<\/p>\n The Cubs, not the Red Sox, will benefit from the many intangibles Bregman brings to the organization and clubhouse. He is a tremendous leader, a proactively supportive and encouraging teammate and mentor to young players. As evidenced by the number of Red Sox players who made public pleas<\/a> for him to re-sign at Fenway Fest, those qualities will make Bregman an absolute bargain.<\/p>\n