Alex Bregman remains one of the biggest names still floundering in the free agent market. The Astros have made offseason moves including signing first baseman Christian Walker and trading for infielder Issac Paredes from the Cubs. But when it comes to re-signing the man who has spent his entire career in Houston, there hasn’t been much progress, despite general manager Dana Brown saying that the door to re-signing Bregman is “cracked open.”

Bregman and his agent Scott Boras are holding out for a $200 million deal but it is getting increasingly difficult for them to land that figure with each passing day. If Boras’ recent history of ill-fated ‘Boras Five’ is anything to go by, Bregman could well find himself way short of what he wants. The Astros had made a $156 million six-year offer to him, but he swiftly turned it down. Turns out, the slugger may have acted hastily to dismiss the offer, according to baseball analyst Bruce Levine.

On Saturday in his podcast Inside the Clubhouse, Bruce Levine mentioned that Bregman wanted to go to New York or Chicago, but that didn’t work out. The Cubs too didn’t want to go over the five years and wanted a 1-3 year situation, which, of course, as everyone knows, is not what Alex Bregman is looking for. Now, according to Bruce Levine, he is told by Bregman’s friend that he regrets discarding the initial offer by the Astros!

“According to his friend, he regretted doing that. There is still a chance, talk that he can go back to Houston,” said Levine. This is because the Astros lineup is already crowded in the infield. After their multiple off-season trades, the deal doesn’t seem right now guaranteed. To get Bregman back, Houston would need to shuffle positions in a now-crowded infield and offload some salary to make a potential deal work, which complicates the situation further. Yet,  he might end up in the Astros for all we know!

GM Dana Brown on Saturday confirmed that while re-signing Alex Bregman seems to be a “long shot” at the moment, there is still a chance, given that no team seems to be close to reaching a deal with him.

During the annual FanFest, Brown said, “The interesting thing is when we made some trades and some moves this offseason, we never realized that Bregman would still be on the market at this time.” When asked if the door to re-sign Bregman is open, he answered, “I would say it’s cracked, right. The fact that he’s still available, it just makes it interesting like, man, this guy is such a good player, he’s done so many wonderful things here. And so, we’ll stick with the cracked door and see what our conversations lead to.”

Despite turning them down earlier, the team wouldn’t say “no” if Bregman decided to accept the same offer at this point according to Astros beat reporter Brian McTaggart. If Houston does re-sign Bregman, Brown said he will retain his position at third base, which pushes an entrenched infield into flux. With new additions, this could also force Jose Altuve to move from second, a position he’s played his entire 14-year career. But he is eager to do whatever it takes to retain Bregman.

“Alex, he’s one of the best players in the whole league, but he’s definitely one of the best players on the team, so we want him to stay,” Altuve said. “So whatever I have to do for him to stay, I’m willing to do it.”

Bregman reportedly has multiple five-year contract offers, but not all teams could offer what Bregman wants. The Detroit Tigers likely cannot afford Bregman’s asking price and even if they manage to table a viable offer, will Bregman consider joining a team that may not be seen as a contender, despite their postseason run a season ago?

Then we have the Blue Jays, who can match his asking price, but have their eyes set on Pete Alonso and may not be competitive in a very stacked AL East. Philadelphia remains another realistic option, but they would need to trade away Alec Bohm, but they reportedly maintain a high asking price for their third baseman.

Astros manager Joe Espada also remains hopeful of re-signing Bregman but knows it won’t be easy. “Obviously, there’s some hurdles to get over, but I’m still optimistic,” Espada said via MLB.com. “He’s still out there, he’s still available. Would love to have him back.”

Meanwhile, the Red Sox is another team in contention for Bregman, but their chances of signing him are looking bleak at the moment. The Red Sox, heavily linked with Bregman, have all-star Rafael Devers at the hot corner, who is not looking to move positions, and the rest of their infield is set. So where does this leave the Red Sox and Bregman?

Boston Red Sox and Bregman’s chances go slim

The Boston Red Sox and Alex Bregman felt like a natural fit after Houston seemed out of the race. But just as spring training is drawing close, the deal looks rather unlikely. The first factor that could derail the perfect painting might not be a money matter but a fit factor. Boston might need to change Bregman’s position to fit him in the lineup. It’s a factor that seems to be causing them to hesitate to make a long-term deal.

Moreover, this week more reports are coming in that the Boston Red Sox are only willing to give Bregman a deal of less than four years. “The Sox have remained engaged on Bregman, but multiple sources said as of earlier this week, the team’s interest had been in a deal of no more than four years,” Alex Speier of the Boston Globe mentioned.

Meanwhile, the other teams seem to be offering more years on the table. This keeps the Red Sox in a rather tough spot, as Bregman, being in his thirties, doesn’t want a shorter deal. Now one cannot discount that Bregman has a stellar career, and his numbers at Fenway Park are impressive: with an OPS of .848 and a 1.245 mark! However, his last two seasons with a .804 and .768 are an eyesore.

The Red Sox have already cleared out that the age of the players they sign is going to matter. Under the leadership of Chaim Bloom and Craig Breslow, they have invested more in younger players like Rafael Devers.

So right now nothing is uncertain, and anything can happen. Where do you think Bregman Bregman will It’s a burning question everyone has!