The clock is ticking till spring coaching begins and the Boston Purple Sox nonetheless have two premier choices to probably mark their offseason’s closing blockbuster: Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado.
Bregman, a free agent, and Arenado, a present member of the St. Louis Cardinals seeking a commerce, have each been linked to Boston prior to now few months. Bregman labored alongside Purple Sox skipper Alex Cora through the 49-year-old’s lone season because the bench coach of the Houston Astros. Arenado spent 5 seasons with Boston shortstop Trevor Story as teammates with the Colorado Rockies.
Both manner, the Purple Sox have checked off a number of containers this offseason, however the addition of a right-handed bat has but to be crossed off. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been on the hunt for a right-handed bat since final season’s commerce deadline and Bregman and Arenado each match that profile.
With that in thoughts, listed here are a number of professionals and cons to think about:
ARENADO: EXPIRING CONTRACT (PRO)
The associated fee for Arenado received’t break the financial institution by any measure.
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Arenado is owed $74 million for the remaining three years of his contract with the Cardinals, and St. Louis seems greater than compliant. When the Astros engaged in commerce discussions with the Cardinals, St. Louis was keen to eat $15 to $20 million of Arenado’s contract — earlier than the 33-year-old refused to waive his no-trade clause to go to the Astros. Which means Boston wouldn’t be tied to a long-term dedication, which relieves any fear in regards to the crew of up-and-coming prospects — Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony — having a seat saved with the big-league membership.
BREGMAN: DEFENSIVE VERSATILITY (PRO)
Boston dedicated the second most errors (115) of any crew in baseball final season, and essentially the most within the American League. So any improve of any kind can be excellent.
Bregman, a Gold Glove Award recipient this previous season, isn’t simply an elite infielder, he’s a flexible one, too. The 30-year-old spent the vast majority of his nine-year profession guarding the new nook (977 begins), however Bregman additionally has expertise at shortstop (129 begins) and second base (9 begins). He’s even logged two begins in left area, though that’d be unlikely in Boston.
The Purple Sox haven’t had a lot second-base stability amid the post-Dustin Pedroia period and asking Bregman to fill the void wouldn’t be a foul concept.
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ARENADO: SWING TAILOR-MADE FOR FENWAY PARK (PRO)
Taking dwelling run laps wasn’t Areando’s sturdy go well with final season, however there’s context to think about when eyeing the statistics.
Arenado performed 77 video games at Busch Stadium, dwelling of the Cardinals, which isn’t essentially the most hitter-friendly ballpark within the majors. The left area wall extends from 336 toes to 375 toes because it nears the 400-foot centerfield dimension. That alone doesn’t solely clarify Arenado’s dwelling run drop from 26 in 2023 to 16 in 2024, however it’s definitely an element since 13 of these dwelling runs landed in left area.
Fenway Park, though 94 years older than Busch Stadium, gives a a lot much less harsh 310-foot distance from dwelling plate to its Inexperienced Monster wall in left area. Arenado’s 23.5% flyball charge, per Baseball Savant, was the second-lowest of his profession however his pull charge of 44.2% remained stable and topped four-time All-Star Pete Alonso (41.6%).
It’s not exhausting to examine Arenado present process an influence revival in Boston.
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BREGMAN: CORA CONNECTION (PRO)
It was only a single season for which Bregman and Cora shared the dugout as members of the Astros, however it was sufficient to go away an impression.
Cora raved about Bregman when requested in regards to the two-time World Sequence champion at MLB’s Winter Conferences in Dallas.
“Alex is an effective participant, man,” Cora advised reporters in December, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. “He’s an entire participant. He’s a participant that’s been on profitable groups, proper, his entire profession. Good defender. Offensively, he’s actually good. He’s a man that lots of people are speaking about, and I do consider he can affect an enormous league crew, a championship-caliber crew. He’s that kind of participant.”
ARENADO: DEFENSIVE DILEMMA (CON)
There aren’t many third basemen in baseball as dependable as Arenado, a collector of 10 Gold Glove Awards.
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However the Purple Sox have already got a beginning third baseman in Rafael Devers so including Arenado would immediate a task shuffling of some kind. Arenado hasn’t performed wherever apart from third base in his profession and whereas Boston may toss him within the designated hitter’s position as a worst-case situation, it will be a waste of getting Arenado’s 97.2% fielding share not going to make use of on a crew that wants a defensive elevate.
BREGMAN: PRICE TAG (CON)
Free company, on the finish of the day, is overruled by the enterprise facet of baseball and Bregman’s desired contract isn’t a fantastic signal.
Houston already introduced Bregman with a six-year, $156 million contract provide earlier this offseason, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, and it was met with rejection from Bregman’s camp. Competing with a long-term provide like Houston’s isn’t conducive to Boston’s plan to place the keys to the franchise’s future within the fingers of its upcoming prospects. If Bregman isn’t the on a regular basis resolution of some kind, there’s little incentive for the Purple Sox to make their largest dedication since signing Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million contract two years in the past.
A steep worth doesn’t appear probably.
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FINAL VERDICT: Arenado is the higher of the 2 choices.
