Red Sox and Alex Bregman each shot themselves in the foot by failing to reunite

The why behind Alex Bregman's split with the Boston Red Sox wasn't much of a mystery; the star third baseman wanted a full no-trade clause to go with a sizable five-year guarantee, two things his incumbent team wasn't willing to include in a new deal at the same time.

So, off he went to the Chicago Cubs, who had coveted Bregman for years. He was signed to serve as the de facto replacement for Kyle Tucker in the middle of their lineup, receiving a monstrous $175 million over the next half-decade to play the hot corner in the Windy City.

Yet. something implausible has happened in the first few months of his new contract: Bregman is struggling.

Given his home/road splits and waning star status in Chicago, has enough time passed for us to claim that Bregman made a mistake not returning to the Red Sox?

Alex Bregman was always a bad fit for Wrigley Field, but the Red Sox let him get away

Wrigley Field's dimensions are infamously warped, with a long way to go to the left and right field foul poles, but shorter-than-usual distances to the baskets to the outfield gaps. For a dead-pull hitter like Bregman, that was always going to be a challenge to overcome.

After years of making mincemeat of the Crawford Boxes (in Houston) and Green Monster, he has yet to tame the ivy. He has just two home runs and a .606 OPS at home this year, compared to a more Bregman-esque .787 OPS on the road. Juxtapose that with last year — when he was still better on the road but posted a .761 OPS in Fenway — and it's clear that he would have benefitted from sticking around.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox haven't had much luck trying to replace Bregman in Boston. Caleb Durbin has been the primary starter, yet despite a solid first half of June, he's been one of the worst qualified hitters in baseball this season (53 wRC+) and looks nothing like a full-time third baseman.

Others, including Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Andruw Monasterio, have been given a few opportunities to stake a claim with Durbin struggling, but no one has stood out. And with Trevor Story hurt, Marcelo Mayer hasn't even had a chance to play third base this year, instead focusing exclusively on the middle infield.

Alas, the Red Sox had every opportunity to re-sign Bregman and instead chose to play hard ball. There's something to be said for being frugal with older players — the Cubs are surely dreading the final four years of the 32-year-old's contract — but there's also something to be said for putting the best team on the field no matter the cost.

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