Toronto is out, Arizona is hesitant, and Boston’s moment has arrived.
It’s a day that ends in “y.” Therefore, we are back to give you an update on the Alex Bregman free agent saga as it relates to the Boston Red Sox.
Luckily for Red Sox Nation, this is a positive update, and it stems from a pair of reports from three of the most prominent voices in baseball reporting.
I’ll present both reports, and then tell you why this is what you want to hear if you’re a Red Sox fan (in case it isn’t obvious enough after reading).
Let’s start with Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic from Monday morning:
“Barring a last-minute change, the Diamondbacks are expected to move on soon from their trade discussions involving All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte.
“General manager Mike Hazen signaled as much to MLB.com last week. Nothing has changed since then, and the team has always viewed a trade of Marte as a long shot.
“What the return of Marte would mean for the DBacks’ pursuit of Bregman is unclear. A scenario exists in which the team could carry both, but Arizona might prefer to avoid a major expenditure and invest in bullpen help and a right-handed hitting first baseman/DH instead.”
Let’s now take a look at this nugget from Bob Nightengale’s latest for USA Today on Monday morning as well:
“The Arizona Diamondbacks have been aggressively shopping but now are pessimistic about trading All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte. No one has come close to meeting their price.
“And if Marte is still aboard, Bregman is definitely out of the D-backs’ plans.”
On the surface, some Red Sox fans may read these reports and be upset that Arizona is backing down from wanting to trade Marte, as he’s someone that’s been linked to Boston as a trade target and would immediately make the lineup better while also providing a stabilizing presence at second base.
MORE RED SOX STORIES:
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But when you take a step back, you realize that a move for Marte always felt like a longshot, and that the bigger news here is that Arizona is unofficially removing themselves from the bidding for Bregman’s services.
As of Thursday, Arizona, Toronto and Boston were mentioned as the team’s most-aggressively pursuing the two-time World Series MVP, with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays seemingly ahead of Boston in the bidding war.
But then Saturday came around, and the Blue Jays continued their warpath of an offseason by signing Kazuma Okamoto to a four-year deal worth $60 million, giving Toronto their third baseman and effectively, in theory, taking them out of the mix for Bregman.
So with Toronto out of the hunt, and Arizona deciding they’re unwilling to pay both Marte and Bregman, that leaves just one team left from that group of three on Thursday.
The decks are cleared. The stage is set.
It’s time to get done what they’ve needed to get done all along.
Will this take until the second week of spring training? Most likely. But it shouldn’t.
Go. Get. Bregman. Back. Now.
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.
Category: General Sports
