Massive Willy Adames contract might've just killed Astros-Alex Bregman reunion

For weeks now, the Houston Astros and many other clubs have been waiting for a domino to fall. The pitching market has seen some movement, but most of the top free agents remained available and for the Astros. They just had to see if the market would move in a direction that would enable them to re-sign Alex Bregman.

Given the terms of their standing offer to Bregman, Houston had to hope that the market wouldn't go too crazy for position players so Bregman could've received a cold reception to his overtures of wanting a $200+ million deal. Unfortunately, those hopes just took a hit.

On the Saturday before the Winter Meetings, Willy Adames signed a massive seven-year, $182 million deal with the Giants, and that could end up being the nail in the coffin for Houston's pursuit of Bregman.

Astros News: Alex Bregman's price skyrockets after Giants-Willy Adames contract

The odds were already stacked against the Astros with regards to Bregman. They have a tight payroll situation that they were already stretching with in negotiations with Scott Boras. If Adames had gotten less than expected as the other top infielder on the free agent market, Houston stood a chance of keeping Bregman.

Instead, Adames largely beat the predictions for him with his deal with San Francisco by getting a $26 million AAV. Just like that, the market has been set and Bregman has an argument at least for a higher AAV, which is a good bit more than what the Astros are offering at the moment.

On top of the impact on talks with Bregman, Adames was also the best fallback option for the Astros on the free agent market, albeit an expensive one. At this point, it may be best for Houston to go ahead and sign Jorge Polanco and then try to pivot to the first base options on the market before they are left without anything appealing. They might be better off doing that instead of staying in a staring match with Bregman.

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