Bear Sports News

Last season, the Cubs felt like they had missed out on a big opportunity. Just a few days before Spring Training, the Cubs were in the sweepstakes for Alex Bregman and team ownership had approved a very team friendly offer to Bregman.

The offer was for four years, 115m, with the hope being that this deal would force Scott Boras and Bregman into signing since it was so late into the offseason. Instead, Alex Bregman chose the three-year, 120m deal with the Red Sox. The deal included opt-outs, and deferred money. Then one season later, Bregman decided to take the opt-out and test free agency in hopes for a longer-term deal.

Bregman is an amazing player on the field but off of it, well his clubhouse presence was a main reason that the Cubs sought after the 3x All Star in 2025 and once again this offseason.

Out of nowhere, a Cubs player approached Patrick Mooney after a game. After an early win in the season, this player shared something with Mooney.

“Imagine how good we would be with Bregman.”

After the Cubs failed pursuit of Alex Bregman over a year ago, they knew they shouldn’t wait till February. They knew they had to make a big offer and on Saturday, when the Bears were attempting the comeback on the Packers. Multiple reports emerged that the Chicago Cubs and Alex Bregman were in agreement for a 5 year, 175m deal. The deal includes a full no-trade clause and has no opt-outs.

Reports are also emerging that this deal does include some deferrals and that 70m of his 175m deal is deferred, this drops his AAV down to the 30m range. This is the third largest contract ever handed out by the Cubs and the largest by terms of AAV, even despite the deferrals.

For the Cubs, this solidifies their chase for glory in 2026. They recently acquired Edward Cabrera in a trade from the Marlins and now add Bregman to the roster. The Cubs have also made a handful of moves to fix their bullpen, which include Phil Maton, Caleb Thielbar and Jacob Webb. They were also able to retain Colin Rea and Shota Imanga.

Alex Bregman had an amazing 2025 season even despite missing over a month and a half due to a quad injury. Bregman played in 114 games with the Red Sox, and had 495 plate appearances. Bregman continued to excel on offense, batting a .273/.260/.462, he was even able to bump his his walk % after posting his lowest career walk % in 2024. The second half of the season wasn’t to kind to Bregman as he only was able to post a 108 wRC+ in August, and 76 wRC+ in September. In the first half of the season, Bregman was over 50% better than average by wRC+. By the second half of the season, his numbers were coming in at right about average.

Despite the tough second half, Bregman was one of the top free agents heading into the offseason. Some say that Bregman’s age may be starting to catch up to him, but despite the average, and HR’s not hitting the numbers that they once did in 2018-2019. Bregman’s wRC+ is still hovering around 117 and 137 in every season since 2020.

The Red Sox were very vocal about wanting Bregman to return to Boston. They had sent an offer to him, with people close to the negotiations stating that it was ‘aggressive’ but obviously, it wasn’t aggressive enough.

The Red Sox will likely turn their pursuits over to Bo Bichette, who is a little bit younger than Bregman. Red Sox front office hasn’t been to hesitant to offer long-term deals to older players, so Bichette could likely garner a nice long-term deal. Projections have Bichette signing for around 5-8 years and 180m-240m.

No matter what direction the Red Sox will go, it will be impossible to fill the gap that Bregman will leave on and off the field. Now the Cubs have quietly become the Dodgers biggest threat this offseason.