ASTROS NEWS

MLB insider reveals good news & bad news on negotiations between Astros, Alex Bregman

Astros Alex Bregman
Houston is on the clock. Composite Getty Image.

It's been a wild few weeks for the Astros and their fans as owner Jim Crane has whipped out the check book, signing Jose Altuve to a 5-year $125 million extension, and closer Josh Hader to a 5-year $95 million deal.

Despite Crane committing $220 million of guaranteed money, all anyone in Houston can say is, “What about Bregman?”

Astros GM Dana Brown said recently the team plans on making Bregman an offer, but there's not a timetable set right now. So as we patiently wait to see what the future holds for Bregman, we're starting to hear some rumblings from the media about the situation.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale shared his two cents on the matter in his Notebook on Sunday.

The Houston Astros plan to make All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman a contract offer before he hits free agency, but it’s not expected to come close to the $300 million over 10 years it likely will take to keep him.
No Astros player has ever received a contract longer than six years or more than $150 million.

Nightengale basically echoed Brown's statement from last week, which isn't really new information. But saying the contract offer isn't likely to come close to what Bregman is looking for is interesting. While it's good news the Astros are planning on making a run at Breggy, it's definitely bad news for Alex if they only intend to pay him half of what he's looking for.

While not surprising, this does line up with what many have come to expect from the Astros. They don't hand out deals over six or seven years, and they certainly don't offer contracts in the $300 million range. While Bregman could command that on the open market, the idea of paying Bregman more than twice as much as Altuve or Yordan Alvarez seems doubtful at best.

Our best guess is Houston will offer Bregman a deal similar to the one they offered Carlos Correa (5-years, $160 million). And we know how that turned out. Correa moved on and so did the Astros with Jeremy Pena.

32 million dollars a year for 5 years is nothing to sneeze at. But you can't blame Bregman for wanting to cash in this offseason. He turns 30 in March, so this is his best chance to land a 10-year mega-deal if that's his top priority.

Another note from Nightengale caught our attention

The Astros have already sold a franchise-record 22,000 season tickets. If the organization is considering handing Breggy a massive deal, it doesn't hurt to be selling a historic amount of season tickets. The money has to come from somewhere.

At the end of the day, the contract uncertainty doesn't seem to be impacting him negatively. He's still behaving like one of the team leaders. He and his wife Reagan recently helped welcome Josh Hader and his wife to the organization.

Maybe there's still a chance he returns.

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The Rockies beat the Astros, 6-1. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Hunter Goodman hit a two-run homer and Mickey Moniak drove in three runs as the Colorado Rockies snapped a four-game skid with a 6-1 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.

Tanner Gordon (5-5) allowed six hits and run in six innings to earn his third straight win.

The Rockies took the lead in the third on a costly error. The Astros were up by 1 when Kyle Karros singled with one out in the inning. Ryan Ritter then reached and Karros moved to third on an error by Jeremy Peña that kept Houston from turning a double play.

The Rockies took advantage of the miscue when Ritter scored on a groundout by Tyler Freeman to tie it 1-all. Moniak followed with an RBI single to put the Rockies on top.

Goodman then hit his 26th home run to left-center to make it 4-1.

Colorado had runners on second and third with one out in the fifth when Moniak’s double off the wall in left-center extended the lead to 6-1.

Houston starter Hunter Brown (10-6) allowed six hits and six runs, two earned, in 6 2/3 innings.

Slugger Yordan Alvarez went 0 for 2 with two walks in his return after sitting out since May 3 with a fractured right hand. His return didn’t give the offense an immediate boost, with the Astros going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Jesús Sánchez gave Houston a 1-0 lead with his home run to the seats behind the bullpen with no outs in the second. The Astros loaded the bases with two outs in that inning, but Jose Altuve lined out to end the threat.

Key moment

Peña’s error in the third that kept the Astros from turning a double play that would have ended the inning.

Key stat

Tuesday marked Colorado’s first win in Houston since Aug. 14, 2018, snapping an 11-game skid.

Up next

Houston LHP Framber Valdez (11-7, 3.32 ERA) opposes RHP Chase Dollander (2-1, 6.91) on Wednesday.

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