Alex Bregman’s farewell to Astros fans feels disingenuous after prolonged free agency

Goodbye, Alex Bregman! Earlier this week, it was reported that the longtime Houston Astros third baseman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. The contract became official on Saturday morning as images of Bregman strolling through Boston's spring training facility emerged on social media.

No doubt excited about signing a ludicrous contract that will pay him an AAV of $40 million per season, Bregman greeted one of the Red Sox clubhouse personnel before sitting down in front of his locker to don a new cap before turning around to smile and give a thumbs up to the camera crew who were capturing every nauseating moment.

Forgive us for not offering much grace to the now former Astros infielder, but after reading Bregman's disingenuous farewell to the Houston faithful on Friday night, this act is already tired and he's yet to swing a bat while wearing "Red Sox" across his chest.

Alex Bregman’s farewell to Astros fans feels disingenuous after prolonged free agency ends with Red Sox mega-deal

In case you haven't had the chance to read it, let me save you some time. Bregman took to Instagram to share how much he appreciated the fans of Houston and the Astros organization as a whole. He closed his message by saying, "Houston, from the bottom of my heart — thank you. With love and gratitude, Alex."

Almost brings a tear to your eye, huh? Not ours! Bregman's message would come across much more genuine if he didn't drag out his free agency — and drag along Astros fans — until days before spring training began.

Had the two-time All-Star just said, "Thanks, but no thanks", to the Astros six-year, $156 million offer, the Houston faithful might be more reciprocal in their heartfelt thanks to Bregman. But as it is, Bregman never sniffed another six-year deal until the bitter end, and even then, told his former manager AJ Hinch and the Detroit Tigers to go pound sand. Detroit reportedly offered Bregman a six-year, $170 million contract, but he wound up signing with Boston instead.

Throughout the offseason, it was widely reported that Bregman had no interest in signing a short-term deal, but as it turns out, he was perfectly content to do just that. While no one is going to outright fault Bregman for taking a deal that pays him an insane (and frankly, unmerited) $40 million per year, it's definitely not a six-year deal, nor is $200 million — both of which he was said to be targeting.

All good things come to an end, but Bregan (and Scott Boras) made this whole ordeal much more complicated than it needed to be. With everything out in the open now, it feels like the Astros' six-year offer was consistently used by Bregman and Boras as a negotiating ploy, and all this talk of a reunion was just a bunch of hot air.

Bregman's press conference with the Red Sox will be held on Sunday morning, and you can count us among those who won't be watching. See ya later, Alex.

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