The Houston Astros spent a lot of money this winter, signing Josh Hader for $95 million and extending Jose Altuve for $125 million. Unfortunately, they didn't spend anything on locking up Alex Bregman, who is going to be a free agent next winter.
Spring Training is already underway, so the Astros are running out of time if they want to extend Bregman before Opening Day. If not, they'll likely have to wait until next offseason to re-sign him, at which point there will be other teams bidding for his services.
When asked about the status of Bregman's extension talks on Monday, Houston GM Dana Brown gave a vague and underwhelming answer.
"At some point, we'll come up with some type of offer. But right now, we are not engaged in an offer," Brown said in an interview with SportsTalk 790.
This is disappointing news for Astros fans, as Bregman and his agent, Scott Boras, have said that they're willing to listen to extension offers from Houston.
Unfortunately, the Astros haven't made one yet.
What are they waiting for?
Now that Spring Training has begun, Bregman is more focused on getting ready for the upcoming season and having a monster walk year to boost his free-agent value. It doesn't help that Boras is notoriously anti-extension and prefers to take his players to the open market.
Houston needs to show more urgency and make Bregman an offer soon to allow time for negotiation. At the very least, the Astros need to show Bregman they value him and want to keep him around for the long haul, as they did with Altuve.
The longer they wait to make an offer, the less likely an extension becomes.
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