The Boston Red Sox have some work to do if they want to convince the fan base that they are invested in near-term winning.
After trading away franchise slugger Rafael Devers in the midst of a winning streak, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow signaled that the organization is still focused on making the playoffs. But making an actual win-now transaction would go a lot further in showing Red Sox nation that he means it.
And now he’s teased what that transaction might be.
In a recent appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Breslow was asked about where the Red Sox stand on third baseman Alex Bregman after the player’s agent announced that he’d be open to signing an extension with the team.
Breslow’s response made it clear that the Red Sox have decided to pursue a new deal with Bregman.
“The specifics of the conversations and the timing of the conversations will remain internal,” Breslow said on WEEI. “And so right now while we’re focused on doing everything we can to get him back on the field as quickly as possible, when the right time comes to have those conversations, very, very confident that we will.”
Bregman was placed on the injured list following a quad strain and likely won’t be back on the field until after the All-Star break. But before the injury, he was slashing a stellar .299/.385/.938 with 11 homers. Without an extension, though, he is likely to opt out of his contract at the end of the season.
And after explaining that he traded Devers to improve the clubhouse atmosphere, Breslow heaped praise on Bregman’s impact for the organization off the field.
“But what I’m very comfortable saying is Alex has been everything we could have asked both on the field — unfortunately, he’s obviously been hurt and hasn’t been able to impact games on the field — but also in the clubhouse from a leadership standpoint,” Breslow added on WEEI. “Not just in the way he’s helped younger players and our staff but in the ways that he’s helped me and many of us in the front office.”
As Breslow and the Red Sox search for ways to win back fans, it sounds like locking Bregman in for a longer tenure could be at the top of the list.
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