ON SECOND THOUGHT

How results from Astros-Altuve negotiations spark an entirely new perspective

Astros Jim Crane, Jose Altuve, Dana Brown
Jose Altuve wasn't going anywhere. Composite Getty Image.

Jose Altuve signing a 5-year, $125 million contract that ensures he will be an Astro for life was a done deal, a fait accompli for you French majors, before ink hit paper.

Altuve, now undeniably the greatest Astro of all time, wanted to stay in Houston, and the Astros desperately needed to keep him here.

It made me wonder why Altuve hired Scott Boras as his agent. Boras is famous for taking his clients to free agency and squeezing every nickel and dime out of the team that signs his players. Altuve telling Boras to get a deal done with the Astros, and get it done before the 2024 season starts, must have driven Boras crazy. You can imagine Boras pleading with Altuve, “c’mon, let me make the Astros squirm. Let’s make them beg. This is what I do for fun.”

Hiring Boras, when Altuve had no desire to play anywhere else and money wasn’t the main issue, was like calling the bomb squad because the kid across the street is playing with matches.

If the Astros had kept Altuve hanging without a contract this season, or lowballed him, or, heaven forbid, tried to trade him, the Astros fan base, heck the entire city of Houston, would have turned owner Jim Crane into Public Enemy No. 1.

Altuve’s press conference and contract signing was such a renewal of vows between player and team that I expected to hear Michael Buble singing as the happy couple left the room.

This is how crazy sports economics have become: a 33-year-old player, coming off an injury-riddled season, whose stats are in decline, signs a contract for $125 million that will end when he’s 40, and it’s considered a “hometown discount.”

What would have happened if Boras told the Astros, “We’ll do the 5-year deal, but we want $130 million?”

Or $135 million? Or $140 million?

The Astros would have paid up. This wasn’t like two years ago when the Astros went to arbitration war over $2.5 million with budding superstar Kyle Tucker. The Astros won, got Tucker on the cheap that year. Tucker made no bones about feeling underpaid and unappreciated. It’s something that I’m guessing Tucker will throw back in the Astros faces when he approaches free agency after the 2025 season.

Of course it’s possible (likely) that the Astros will play rough with Tucker, and make only a half-hearted effort to keep him, like they did with George Springer, Justin Verlander, Carlos Correa, Gerrit Cole and other ghosts of Astros past. So far the Astros have successfully endured the departures. But at some point, like Jenga, lose one more piece and the Astros dynasty crumbles.

That piece never was going to be Altuve. The pint-sized second baseman held all the marbles against the Astros. Altuve isn’t just a great player – you can make a case he’s one of the greatest second basemen in baseball history – he is a bona fide hero in Houston. Fans don’t just cheer for Altuve, they adore him. Parents look at Altuve as a role model for their children. Little Leaguers can identify with Altuve because they’re little, too. How can you not love a superstar who says he gets up in the morning after night games and drives his daughters to school?

If the Astros had let Altuve slip through their fingers, they would have lost a generation of fans. They probably would lose a lot more games, too, especially this season when the American League West appears to be a horse race between the Astros, Rangers and Mariners. The Astros simply couldn’t afford to blow a deal with Altuve.

Now before we order Jose Altuve ornaments to put on top of our Christmas trees, it’s not like he took a vow of poverty to stay in Houston. Two years ago, crooks broke into his home and stole $1 million in jewelry. That’s not cubic zirconia from the Home Shopping Channel.

By the time this contract extension expires, Altuve will have earned more than $300 million over his career – the highest-paid second baseman in history.

And worth every damn penny.

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A new era begins. Composite image by Jack Brame.

Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.

“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club's former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.

“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”

A day after Bregman's $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he handed the infielder his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.

Breslow and Cora wouldn't say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia's position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.

A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.

Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.

Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”

Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.

“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.

MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player's grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams' deal to become manager.

Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.

“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets. “We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’

“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”

Called the “perfect fit” by Breslow, the 30-year-old Bregman joined the Red Sox after winning two World Series titles and reaching the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons with Houston.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs the first eight years of my career, and I plan on continuing to do that here,” he said in his opening remarks. “I’m a winning player and this is a winning organization.”

Coming off an 81-81 season, the Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson during the offseason.

After the pitching moves, they found a right-handed bat, too.

“As the offseason progressed it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Breslow said.

Bregman ranks first among players with at least 75 career plate appearances in Fenway Park with an OPS of 1.240.

“He fits like a glove for our organization,” Kennedy said.

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