Alex Bregman was officially introduced by the Boston Red Sox on Sunday at the team’s spring training complex in Fort Myers, Florida.
Some details of the three-year, $120 million contract he signed were confirmed, including opt-outs after each of the first two seasons and $20 million of his $40 million annual salary will be deferred each year.
However, perhaps the biggest question regarding Bregman’s fit with the Red Sox has yet to be determined or officially announced. Which position will he play in Boston’s infield? Manager Alex Cora said that decision will be made later in spring training, when the lineup has to be set.
“We’ll talk about that later on,” Cora said. “Right now, there’s a lot of stuff going on as far as where we’re going to be roster-wise, and we’ll make the decision when we have to make it.”
Initial speculation after Bregman signed with Boston was that he would move to second base. Rafael Devers is entrenched at third base, where he’s played for all of his eight MLB seasons. Moving him to first base or DH could be disruptive to the team’s most impactful hitter. Yet he’s a subpar defensive third baseman, providing nowhere near the glove that Bregman has at the position.
Bregman won his first American League Gold Glove last season. That’s surprising, but he’s also competed against other outstanding defenders, including Adrian Beltre, Evan Longoria and Matt Chapman during his career.
Going into his 10th MLB season, Bregman rates highly under defensive metrics like Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average. Devers, to be kind, doesn’t. By those same metrics, he’s the worst third baseman among those who played at least 900 innings at the position.
But Cora is being genuine when he says the Red Sox “have a lot of stuff going on.” Triston Casas is expected to play first base, though he missed four months with a rib cage injury last season. Masataka Yoshida was the DH, yet is coming off right labrum surgery and is signed for three more years at $55.8 million. Perhaps he can be part of the mix in left field.
And at second base, Boston has Vaughn Grissom and top prospect Kristian Campbell ready to go, though they could still develop while Bregman plays there.
Yet Cora seems confident Bregman would be fine at second, considering he’s played shortstop during his career. He took ground balls at second with Trevor Story playing shortstop on Saturday.
“He has quick hands, good footwork,” Cora said, via MLB.com. “He’s done it before. I know it was just a few games, but if you look at the highlights or whatever, he’s very clean. He’s a good infielder. He uses his feet the right way. He has good hands. The arm plays.”
