After years of agonizingly boring offseasons from the Boston Red Sox, they finally put a worthy showing together this winter.
Even that took quite some time, though. Boston traded for Garrett Crochet during the winter meetings, shortly after whiffing on Juan Soto. Despite the Crochet deal being their biggest move, the Red Sox's offseason was made by the signing of Alex Bregman.
Bregman brings leadership, postseason experience, rock-solid infield defense and a right-handed bat with excellent numbers at Fenway Park to the Red Sox in one fell swoop. Boston was a staple in his market from the jump this offseason, but a late entrant almost swiped Bregman at the last minute. MLB insider Jon Heyman detailed the Chicago Cubs' pursuit of Bregman in a story from March 10 (subscription required).
“The Cubs and Red Sox apparently were Bregman’s preferred destinations, but Chicago’s best offer of $115 million over four years couldn’t touch winning Boston’s $120M over three, even with significant deferrals in the Red Sox deal,” Heyman wrote.
MLB insider Jon Heyman shares how the Red Sox beat out the Cubs for Alex Bregman's services
Bregman's deal with the Red Sox also includes opt-outs after each of the first two seasons, but there's a good chance they may go unused with Bregman's salary as high as it is on his current contract. The Blue Jays and Tigers were also in on the infielder, but no one matched Boston's $40 million average annual value.
Bregman could've helped the Cubs ascend to the top of a wide-open National League Central with his bat in their lineup alongside former teammate Kyle Tucker and his elite defense next to Dansby Swanson. But Bregman may have thought the Red Sox's chance to win the American League East was better (along with the extra money they gave him, of course.)
The two-time World Series champion told the "Section 10" podcast that he had three offers in a 30 -minute span before he chose his team. Heyman reports that Boston was one of his preferred landing spots, and its final offer must've been the thing that helped him decide to don red Sox for the next three seasons.
Boston's front office has taken heat from fans from the 2020 offseason on after it traded Mookie Betts and failed to reinforce the team in his absence. The Red Sox promised the team would be competitive by the time their top prospects reached the league, and if the Bregman signing goes according to plan, they'll meet that promise.
All it took to improve the Red Sox was spending like the big market team they are. The Cubs have more than enough money to do the same, but like the Sox of the recent past, they decided against it, and it could cost them in a close division race.