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Timing of Astros’ offer to Alex Bregman suggests decision could be coming very soon

Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Climbing Tal's Hill

Los Angeles Angels v Houston Astros / Logan Riely/GettyImages

Houston Astros fans are already getting sick and tired of the saga that is the Alex Bregman negotiations. Most agree that it would be good if Houston were able to get him to return, but most of the offseason rumor mill around Bregman has involed half-baked attempts at projecting where else he could sign and a lot of speculation as to how much his camp is demanding early in negotiations. Beyond that, it has been a waiting game.

However, there was an interesting development on Thursday, as Jon Heyman revealed in his latest collection of tweets that he turned into an article that the Astros have made an offer to Bregman.

While the exact amount of that offer is still unknown, Houston has apparently put numbers and years to paper and given them to Bregman's camp. That suggests a significant escalation in negotiations and could mean that we all will get answers soon.

Astros' Bregman offer could mean that his future will be decided sooner rather than later

Both the Astros and Bregman's camps have been careful with how they have characterized negotiations. They have almost certainly talked money in previous meetings, but most descriptions of those meetings have been that they were "productive," with Dana Brown famously saying that he thought that the Astros had a good shot of bringing him back.

Now that we know that the Astros have made a firm offer to Bregman, one would think that such an offer would be made in the context of those previous talks. If it is in line with what Bregman was hoping for, we could see a lot more chatter about a reunion before the Winter Meetings, even if the exact terms take a little while to hash out.

On the other hand, if the Astros' offer is seen as weak by Bregman's camp, which is entirely possible if the rumors of his contract expectations are close to accurate, we are likely see more rumors of Bregman meeting with other teams while his free agency drags out into the new year. Assuming that world, Houston will likely start getting more firmly connected with other alternatives.

Either way, it finally seems like Houston fans will get answers soon as to what the future holds for the Astros and Bregman, for better or worse.

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.