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Alex Bregman has been everything the Boston Red Sox hoped he would be when he signed a $120 million contract in February. Despite missing over a month due to a quad injury in late May, the 31-year-old is having a career year, second only to his 2019 campaign, which saw him finish second in MVP voting.
The contract that Bregman and the Red Sox agreed to is technically a three-year deal, but contains opt-outs after the 2025 and 2026 seasons. There has been much speculation over whether Bregman could exercise his opt-out after this season due to his stellar performance on the field.
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Earlier this month, Bregman stated that he prefers to wait until the offseason to engage in contract extension talks with the Red Sox. Scott Neville and I sat down with Bregman to discuss this decision.
“I feel like for me it would be a disservice to be thinking about anything other than just winning baseball games right now,” Bregman told us on the “ITM Podcast.” “Focusing on this team, this year and trying to do anything I can to help lead this team and help get everybody prepared to play down the stretch and get into the postseason.”
The two-time World Series champion is no stranger to the postseason, or to playing at Fenway in October, having played the Red Sox three times in the playoffs.
“I’m really just focused on showing up every day, competing and getting after it, trying to get back to the postseason,” Bregman went on to say.
The Red Sox have not made the postseason since 2021, and have missed the chance to play in October in five of the last six seasons. A deep postseason run with Bregman at the helm could help the Red Sox’s chances of retaining the newest piece of their leadership core.
Bregman is currently slashing .305/.387/.546 with a .933 OPS and 16 homers in 79 games.
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