BANK ON BREGGY
How an unconventional approach could keep Alex Bregman in an Astros uniform
Feb 28, 2023, 6:16 pm
Can the Astros afford to let Alex Bregman hit free agency.?Composite image by Brandon Strange.
Astros owner Jim Crane may want to check under his sofa cushions for loose change, start clipping coupons, take a hammer to his piggy bank, and consider playing golf after 1 p.m. and eating dinner before 5 p.m. for the early bird special. Because the price of signing star third baseman Alex Bregman to a contract extension – which the Astros have said is on their to-do list – just went through the Minute Maid Park roof.
Breggy may want to send Manny Machado a thank you note and a free case of salsa.
The San Diego Padres signed their All-Star third sacker Machado to an 11-year contract worth $350 million this week. If Machado got $350 million, what will Bregman be worth if the Astros allow him to hit the free agent market after the 2024 season?
Let's compare and contrast. Actually there isn't much to contrast. Machado and Bregman have put up remarkably comparable numbers during their careers.
Career batting average: Machado (.282), Bregman (.277).
On-base percentage: Machado (.341), Bregman (.375).
OPS: Machado (.833), Bregman (.872).
Slugging: Machado (.493), Bregman (.497).
Both are slick fielders and fan favorites in their home cities. Machado was the third player taken in the 2010 draft. Bregman went No. 2 in 2015. Bregman has the edge in postseason statistics, a higher batting average and, of course, two World Series rings to Machado's zero. Of course, it helps that Bregman has played his entire 7-year career with the Astros while Machado has bounced from Baltimore to Los Angeles to San Diego during his 12 years in the big leagues.
Getting back to … if Machado is worth $350 million now without having to go through free agency, what might Bregman command on the open market if he stays healthy and productive through the 2024 season? The number could be staggering.
Bregman's agent is Scott Boras, who isn't exactly known for playing footsie with team owners and offering hometown discounts. You see Machado's $350 million? His agent is Boras. While we can only guess what baseball's economy will be like in 2024 heading into the 2025 season, what goes up doesn't always come down.
The stars and dollar signs are lining up for Bregman. The New York Yankees might be lurking for a third baseman. The current Yankee third baseman is Josh Donaldson. If you're real quiet, you can hear the echo of Yankees fans booing him last season when Donaldson hit a career low .222, He's also 37 years old. The Yankees played a split-squad game this week. Donaldson was with the B-team. While Donaldson is still the starter, consider that a message delivered.
Machado is 30 years old. That's how old Bregman will be at the end of 2024.
Bregman has a lot of intangibles in his favor. He is a baseball fanatic, obsessed with the game. He is involved with the city, offering his time to charities. He was born to do post-game interviews. He is a marketing dream. He has his own line of condiments.
Unlike the Astros, the Yankees aren't averse to offering long-term contracts, which Bregman surely could command in free agency. Sure, Bregman is saying all the right things down in spring training. He loves the Astros, he loves Houston, he loves his teammates. The Astros certainly would love to have Bregman play his entire career in Houston. His agent loves money and long-term deals, though.
Let's not minimize this, especially if he hits free agency and the Yankees are desperate for a third baseman. Bregman is Jewish. He would be a dream acquisition for New York. There are 1.6 million Jews in New York City. That's more than Tel Aviv and Jerusalem combined. Endorsement deals? Fugeddabbout it. Bregman's wife Reagan is a regular guest on Channel 2's Houston Life show. She would be hosting Coffee Talk on cable in New York.
Bregman, to his credit, isn't shy about saying he's open to suggestions of what might be available to him. Beloved as Bregman is in Houston, the Astros have said goodbye to popular players rather than offer long-term contracts. What the Astros could do is this - tear up his current contract and offer Bregman insane money, whatever it takes, over five years. That would keep Bregman here at least for the short haul, and Bregman would be only 33, still in his prime, when he's up for a new contract. Done deal.
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Jan 17, 2025, 3:11 pm
When DeMeco Ryans became coach of the Houston Texans before last season, the two-time Pro Bowl linebacker brought his swarm defense with him.
It’s an identity the Texans have embraced as they prepare for their second straight trip to the divisional round of the playoffs Saturday where they’ll face the Kansas City Chiefs.
“You really can’t go out there if you’re not about it,” Ryans said.
And while every member of the defense has bought into Ryans’ aggressive style, there is one player who epitomizes it like no one else.
“Will every time,” cornerback Derek Stingley said of defensive end Will Anderson Jr.
Anderson, last year’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, has taken his game to another level this season and had 1½ sacks last week after piling up 11 in the regular season.
He described what playing swarm defense means to him.
“Do whatever it takes to get the ball, attacking the ball,” Anderson said. “We’ve got this saying in our D-line room; ‘who gonna pop it off?’ Whoever pops it off first, that’s swarming. Like who’s gonna make the big play? And I feel like there’s a lot of guys on defense that pop it off, who swarm.”
The Texans intercepted Justin Herbert a career-high four times, including one which was returned for a score, in last week’s win over the Chargers after he had been picked off just three times all season. Houston’s four takeaways in the first week of the playoffs are tied with Philadelphia for most in the NFL.
That performance came after Houston ranked fifth in the league in the regular season by forcing 29 turnovers.
Stingley, who had two of the interceptions last week a day after earning AP All-Pro honors, shared his mindset on the team’s defensive mentality.
“It really just comes down to if I was to tell you this is the last time you’re gonna do something, how you gonna do it,” Stingley said. “It’s simple as that. Just do that every single play.”
Ryans said there’s really no secret to why his team has such a knack for forcing turnovers. He believes it’s because he has good players, and they emphasize it in practice which translates to games.
“That’s our main thing that we go into every week is talking about attacking the football, taking the football,” Ryans said. “Because we know, when you take the football away, it just raises your percentages of winning the football games… it’s the defense helping the team win the game.”
While all of Houston’s takeaways last week came on interceptions, Stingley was quick to point out that those picks wouldn’t have happened if not for the pressure the defensive line put on Herbert. The Texans sacked him four times and hit him another nine in the 32-12 victory.
“The defense starts with them up front,” Stingley said. “They’re doing their job and it just makes it easier for us on the back end.”
Anderson said with each turnover, the defense got more and more amped up and was pushing each other to see who the next player would be to force one.
“That’s just that swarm mentality and we just feeding off each other,” Anderson said. “This person can’t do it by themselves so who is gonna be next and that just generates that contagious energy.”
The Texans were the fifth team since 1963 to have at least four sacks, four interceptions and an interception return for a touchdown in a playoff game last week. The past three teams to do it all went on to win the Super Bowl, with Tampa Bay doing so in the 2002 season, Baltimore in 2000 and San Francisco in 1989.
This Texans team would love to keep that going. But first they’ll need a win Saturday to put them in the AFC championship game for the first time after losing their previous five divisional matchups.
“That’s what you come here for,” Anderson said. “That’s what they’ve been rebuilding for is moments like this… we’ve got all the right pieces, we’ve just got to go out there and make it happen.”