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The Chicago Cubs and third baseman Alex Bregman have agreed to a five year, $175-million deal, sources confirmed to North Side Baseball.
Bregman, who will turn 32 in March, gets the largest AAV in Cubs history, at $35 million. The deal spares the team from having to spread money out into Bregman's late 30s and early 40s, though it almost guarantees that they will surpass the competitive-balance tax threshold for 2026—and perhaps years to come.
In exchange for that, the Cubs get a player who fits their offensive philosophy perfectly. Bregman makes exceptionally good swing decisions and has run superb contact rates almost throughout his career. He lacks high-end bat speed, but creates power by excelling at pulling the ball in the air. He also plays a sturdy third base, and his arrival carries interesting implications for Matt Shaw and Nico Hoerner.
Things were very different for Bregman this year, untethered from the qualifying offer but one year older and with a platform season in which he hit brilliantly early, got hurt, then struggled at times in the second half. Instead of being open to flexible structures and locking in on deals that offered him quick paths back to free agency, Bregman and agent Scott Boras sought a lucrative long-term deal. The Red Sox, who wooed Bregman with a deferral structure and multiple opt-outs last winter, were willing to go longer than the Cubs in terms of years, but refused to pay the high AAV the Cubs offered.
Once he landed Edward Cabrera in a trade earlier this week, Hoyer got permission from ownership to exceed the CBT threshold in order to sign either Bregman or Bo Bichette, a source familiar with the team's plans said. That allowed Chicago to scale up its offer to Bregman, and helped them land the player they hoped would be the capstone to their offseason last year.
In 10 big-league seasons, Bregman has had an on-base percentage under .350 just twice: in 2016 and in 2024. After being in the Astros organization for nearly a decade, he signed with the Red Sox in February and batted .273/.360/.462 in 495 plate appearances. That marked his highest slugging average since 2019, and with the deep well at Wrigley Field replacing the Green Monster in left field for his home games this year, don't expect him to slug as much for the Cubs. However, he adds a much-needed right-handed threat to their lineup, and will spend lots of time hitting between Michael Busch and Ian Happ or Moisés Ballesteros, giving the Cubs terrific lineup depth and balance.
With Bregman locked up (and locked in, with a full no-trade clause, a source said), the team's infield is in for a shakeup. Dansby Swanson will be the shortstop for at least another year or two, but Matt Shaw has been displaced from the lineup. That could be a temporary change, with Nico Hoerner a free agent after 2026, but it could also prove to be permanent. Bregman is likely to stay at third base. Shaw could slide to second if Hoerner is traded, but the team could also plan to rotate him in as a backup at both second and third (with Hoerner sometimes spelling Swanson at shortstop) and/or to use Bregman as the designated hitter on a semi-regular basis, especially against left-handed pitchers.
The ramifications of the deal will spread out and become clearer in the weeks ahead. For now, what we can say for sure is that the Cubs are serious about challenging the Brewers in the NL Central—and in 2026, they might just overtake them.
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