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When the Houston Astros lost Alex Bregman to the Boston Red Sox in free agency, it felt as though the primary motivation was money. Bregman wanted to surpass the average annual value of his previous contract, and Houston refused to budge.
One has to believe, however, that at the very least, Bregman wanted to go to an organization that would be competing for a playoff spot. Little did he know that him signing in Boston would actually be the domino that made the Red Sox worse this season thanks to the blockbuster Rafael Devers trade that saw their DH shipped to the San Francisco Giants.
The structure of Bregman's deal with the Red Sox allows him to opt out after this season, but he probably assumed he'd be on the same team as Devers in 2025. Bregman's arrival, however, caused a schism to open between Devers and the Red Sox front office and Houston just has to be loving the results right now.
Astros should be laughing after Alex Bregman deal wrecked Red Sox and Rafael Devers
While it was painful to see Bregman leave in free agency, most Astros fans wished him well given everything he had done for the franchise during his tenure. However, the same sentiment did not extend to the Red Sox, who stole Bregman away and also represented a potential threat to Houston in the American League.
Fast forward a few month later and the Astros have to be feeling good about how things have turned out. Isaac Paredes has been a great addition, Bregman was playing quite well in Boston this season before he got hurt, and the Red Sox pissed off a franchise icon so much by signing that they had to trade him to the Giants. Absolutely delightful.
While a lot of the benefits for the Astros revolve around karma and mental well-being, there are baseball benefits as well. Houston's path to the postseason seems relatively safe at the moment given that the rest of the AL West apparently has no interest in winning the division.
However, that path is even more safe now that Boston is seemingly bowing out of the 2025 postseason picture altogether. Even if the Astros get overtaken, the AL Wild Card race seems like a safe fallback option.