Nine-figure contract? Bregman saw it coming 4 years ago
Third baseman pressed agent to get deal done so he can stay here longer
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — One June afternoon four years ago, the doors to a Minute Maid Park elevator opened and Alex Bregman stepped inside. His parents Sam and Jackie slid beside him. Their son had just signed his first professional contract with the Astros. It contained a $5.9 million signing bonus.
While the elevator descended, Alex promised his parents at least a portion of the payday. Sam and Jackie each practice law in Albuquerque. The family does fine financially, so Sam scoffed at his son’s generosity.
“Shut up,” his father said, “we’re not taking any of your money. You’ve earned this, you’ve worked for it.”
The group reached its destination on the ground floor. The three Bregmans stepped out. A gaggle of reporters stood in wait for the Astros’ newest addition. Alex stopped before he reached them.
“He looks at both of us and goes ‘Well, in five years, I’m going to sign one for $100 million. Will you take some of that money?”
“That is the absolute truth,” Sam said Friday.
Another of his son’s guarantees is fulfilled. It required four, not five, years for Alex Bregman to cross the latest of the lofty goals everyone but the man himself considers unattainable.
With his parents in the front row, Bregman made official his five-year, $100 million extension with the Astros. It is the second-largest contract in franchise history and second-largest deal afforded to a player before he has reached arbitration eligibility.
“It never ceases to surprise us,” Sam said. “He sees stuff and he goes and works until he gets it done.
It’s surreal.”
From 2020-22, Bregman’s deal will pay him $11 million per season. In 2023 and 2024 — Bregman’s two free-agent seasons the Astros are buying out — it increases to $28.5 million per year. There’s a $10 million signing bonus, too.
“This is a big deal for us, a massive investment for our organization,” said Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow. “We make these investments when they’re right for the individual, right for the organization and right for the city. That’s what’s happening.”
Since the day he was selected with the second pick in the 2015 draft, Bregman has engineered an absurd ascension across the Astros’ system. Last year, he was the first man in franchise history to win the AllStar Game Most Valuable Player. He led the team in almost every offensive category. In major league history, no man but Bregman has played primarily third base while slugging at least 30 home runs and 50 doubles in a season.
At the end of his storybook season, he requested the Astros to restructure his contract.
“I’d like to say it’s a family trait, but we’re very loyal,” Sam said. “This is the team that drafted him. This is the team that, now, this is his family. That’s what it’s all about to him.”
Players wanting to remain in one place is not rare. Baseball’s recent flurry of extensions reflects that. For Bregman’s plea to come so soon — during the days after a gutting American League Championship Series loss — was somewhat uncommon.
“I don’t know if that’s normal,” said agent Brodie Scoffield, “but Alex Bregman isn’t your typical, normal ballplayer.”
Scoffield did as his client directed. He and Luhnow conducted separate sitdowns at the general manager’s meetings in November and again at the winter meetings in December. Bregman does not deal well with waiting.
“You know, Alex doesn’t have a lot of patience,” Scoffield said. “Once he sets his mind to something, he kind of wants it to happen the next day.”
No offers were exchanged in the two offseason meetings, Luhnow said, but the framework of a groundbreaking deal was nevertheless constructed. When the club reported to West Palm Beach last month, talks intensified. They culminated this week.
Compromises came from both sides. Bregman forfeited his first two seasons of free agency. The Astros yielded a $10 million signing bonus and lucrative salary escalators based on MVP finishes. As part of a limited no-trade clause, Bregman can name 10 teams to which he cannot be traded during the final two years of his deal.
To little surprise, Bregman released a YouTube video on Friday afternoon to announce his five-year, $100 million contract extension. The gregarious 24year-old sat atop a dais between Luhnow and owner Jim Crane a few minutes later, unusually mute on a sunsplashed afternoon with a large group of his family in attendance.
“He would rather be talking baseball than money,” Sam said. “That’s his nature. Ask him a question about baseball and he’ll dive right in. He’s outside his comfort zone and that’s OK.”
Bregman’s teammates congregated behind the news conference as a show of support. He heaped praise upon them all. He singled out Jose Altuve, with whom he is now teammates through the 2024 season.
“These boys love Alex, Alex loves them back, and he’s got the it factor when it comes to baseball,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s a baseball rat, 24/7, 365. It’s authentic, it’s real, it works.”
For Bregman, the news conference mercifully concluded and he retreated to his haven, playing third base in an Astros uniform against the Mets.
“I wanted to play here, I didn’t want to play anywhere else,” Bregman said. “I wanted to be in orange and blue for as long as I possibly can. I love this organization, and I want to win here for a long time.”