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The Cubs and third baseman Alex Bregman are in agreement on a five-year, $175MM contract, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post and Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal does not have opt-outs, and Bregman receives a no-trade clause, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Bregman is a client of the Boras Corporation.
After opting out of his deal with the Red Sox, Bregman now gets the long-term contract he has been seeking. We at MLBTR ranked him at No. 5 on our Top 50 Free Agents list and projected him for a six-year, $160MM contract. Meeting that projection would have taken him through his age-37 season in 2031 at a $26.7MM average annual value. This deal gives him one less year but shatters expectations with a much higher $35MM AAV.
For the Cubs, the addition of Bregman is the latest move in an active offseason. The club acquired young starter Edward Cabrera from the Marlins three days ago. They have also signed reliever Phil Maton to a two-year deal, as well as relievers Jacob Webb, Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, starter Colin Rea, and first baseman Tyler Austin on one-year deals. Shota Imanaga also accepted his qualifying offer to remain with the team. Now, Bregman gives the Cubs a major offensive upgrade without the loss of a draft pick, as he rejected a qualifying offer from the Astros in 2024. His salary brings the team’s projected 2026 payroll to $231MM, a full $25MM over last year’s $206MM figure, according to RosterResource. Meanwhile, their CBT payroll stands at $247.6MM for 2026, putting the Cubs $3.6MM above the first luxury tax threshold.
Bregman, 31, played in 114 games with Boston this year, making 495 plate appearances. Although he missed a month and a half with a right quad strain, he continued to excel on offense, batting .273/.360/.462 and grading out 25% better than average by wRC+. After posting a career-low 6.9% walk rate in his last year with the Astros, Bregman bumped that up to 10.3% in 2025. He maintained his reputation as a high-contact hitter, with his 14.1% strikeout rate grading out in the 88th percentile. His 90.1 mph average exit velocity and 44.4% hard-hit rate were both career bests. He also continued to do well defensively, earning 1 Defensive Run Saved and 3 Outs Above Average for his work at third base. Overall, Bregman’s 2025 contributions were good for 3.5 fWAR and his third career All-Star nomination.
More to come.