Levine: Alex Bregman Open to Short-Term Deals, Cubs Have Talked to Scott Boras About It

5 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Are you saying because of the budget or playing time? If it is budget, I agree. But it would be awesome if both could stay. Shaw can just go back to AAA. That is the best Cubs team possible. Too bad our ownership is small market. 

The budget. 

In a scenario Where they sign Bregman and trade Nico , the net gain for the team is what they get for Nico most likely .   I dont think it will come into play , as the Cubs arent signing him anyway .

5 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

In a scenario Where they sign Bregman and trade Nico , the net gain for the team is what they get for Nico most likely .   I dont think it will come into play , as the Cubs arent signing him anyway .

Agreed, was thinking SP prospect(s)

Thanks, 

.

More details from Levine:

so the cubs/astros both want bregman. the cubs also want pressly, but the astros getting rid of pressly helps them get bregman. weird spot.

If getting Bregman is only 3/75 then you have to think hard about it, right?

24 minutes ago, JunkyardWalrus said:

If getting Bregman is only 3/75 then you have to think hard about it, right?

 I would.

47 minutes ago, JunkyardWalrus said:

If getting Bregman is only 3/75 then you have to think hard about it, right?

Yeah that's kind of hard to turn down.  That said 3 years is a bit of an awkward contract length for him as a 30 year old.  He'd re-enter FA too old to get more than ~3 years again but clearly wouldn't have banked enough before that for that to feel totally worth it.

I wonder if this is a situation for a swell-opt like what Shota or Gerrit Cole have. 

- Cubs and Bregman agree to a 3 year deal

- Bregman has the chance to opt out after year 1

- Cubs have a chance to "nuh uh" that opt out by adding 2-3 years onto the original contract

1. Spend the six weeks after the Tucker deal setting the narrative that Shaw is ready to be a day one starter and presumptive rookie of the year favorite
2. sign bregman to much less dollars and years than the market was expecting he would get 
3. trade Shaw(maybe plus? Who knows, not important) to Seattle for one of their elite, cost controlled starters (I can never remember who is who)
4. salary dump rea, taillon, whatever if you have to make it work
5. …project to be a low 90s win team?

not saying it’s my ideal plan, but…fun thought exercise 

On 1/25/2025 at 11:23 AM, 17 Seconds said:

so the cubs/astros both want bregman. the cubs also want pressly, but the astros getting rid of pressly helps them get bregman. weird spot.

They were kind of in the same spot with Tucker, Bellinger and the Yankees earlier. Nice to see them in those conversations though.

On 1/24/2025 at 3:43 PM, 1908_Cubs said:

For teams under the LT the previous season it is their 2nd round selection. For teams above it, it's a 2nd, a 5th and IFA money in the next signing period.

So the Cubs could sign Bergman and Pivetta and they would lose a 2nd / 5th and IFA money. So it's benifical for a team sign a qualifying  free agent to sign multiple?

6 hours ago, MarkBellhorn said:

 

So the Cubs could sign Bergman and Pivetta and they would lose a 2nd / 5th and IFA money. So it's benifical for a team sign a qualifying  free agent to sign multiple?

If they signed a second QO player they would then lose their 3rd and 6th round.

My guess this is a Boras trick , but you never know .

It's very funny to me that all of the local folks are like "yeah they want him but only on their terms don't get too excited, it's probably not gonna happen."

At the same time all of the less...scrupulous...national writers are pushing this HARD.

Im cautiously interested in this. Ive been among the "Boras is using the Cubs" camp for a while, but at some point where there is smoke, there must be fire. I'm curious as to what the play is here, and what the Cubs plan is with Bregman in the event they sign him

Jed isn't gonna pass up a chance to bring a 4 war player in on a short term deal. It feels like he wants insurance for Nico and Shaw. Maybe they want to make Shaw a supersub and hope to still get him 400 PAA or so but have strong options if he struggles. Say Nico is out for April then that would give Shaw a chance at 100 PA to prove what he's got. If he thrives he can spell every position on the IF and maybe DH some and play some LF. If he struggles you're not turning to Yoan Moncada.

I just don't see how Alonso could work? Seiya is a better hitter, Busch is far cheaper and was more valuable last year. Where would Alonso even go and be an upgrade?

Unless Bregman truly wants to play in Chicago and hates the idea of Detroit, I just don't see how it happens. Maybe he gets a Bellinger type deal for 3 years with opt-outs and hopes he can bet on himself for more money in a year or two? And again, I'd rather have Shaw and Hoerner than Shaw and Bregman.

12 minutes ago, Post Count Padder said:

Unless Bregman truly wants to play in Chicago and hates the idea of Detroit, I just don't see how it happens. Maybe he gets a Bellinger type deal for 3 years with opt-outs and hopes he can bet on himself for more money in a year or two? And again, I'd rather have Shaw and Hoerner than Shaw and Bregman.

All depends what type of pitcher Nico brought back. 

11 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I just don't see how Alonso could work? Seiya is a better hitter, Busch is far cheaper and was more valuable last year. Where would Alonso even go and be an upgrade?

I took Bowden's words to be that the Jays are aggressive on Alonso and the Cubs are aggressive on Bregman. But I could be reading it wrong too.

The Bregman stuff is still super weird to me. He's supposedly got a couple 6 year offers on the table. There were reports the Astros offered 6/156 and it wasnt good enough. Maybe 3/90 with opt outs each year is tempting because he thinks he'll get better offers next year if he has a great year? But Wrigley is a harder park to hit in and I'm not sure how much better then 6/156 he should expect at age 31 even if he does have a great year. Can the Cubs even fit 30 mil in the budget? Trading Hoerner to cut salary only makes sense if they can grab a good pitcher who makes less then him and those options seem slim now. If they can grab Bregman and keep Hoerner I'm fine with that. But it leaves Shaw in a weird spot. You're not gonna trade Shaw when Bregman could opt out in a year. Will be interesting to see how this plays out but it's still hard for me to see.

Is it possible there really is no market for Bregman and Boras is trying, with well placed rumors, to create one?

I find it hard to believe there's a team out there who would give up a cost controlled mid rotation starter and $12m (x 2 years) for Nico Hoerner instead of just....signing Alex Bregman themselves.