Inside the Astros

Former Houston Astros Third Baseman Says He Almost Joined Different AL Team

The Houston Astros lost one of their key infielders this offseason, and instead of joining the Boston Red Sox he nearly signed with another team instead.

Jeremy Trottier

Mar 17, 2025; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox Alex Bregman (2) connects with the ball in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at JetBlue Park at Fenway South.
Mar 17, 2025; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox Alex Bregman (2) connects with the ball in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. / Chris Tilley-Imagn Images
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The Houston Astros have had an intriguing offseason of both incoming and outgoing moves.

Between trading away Kyle Tucker and letting Alex Bregman walk, things have changed quite a bit for the American Leauge powerhouse.

Bregman was an interesting situation to watch play out, with many teams being involved in attempting to sign the multi-time All-Star and 2024 Gold Glove winner.

By the end, it seemed like the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers were the favorites to land the high-end third baseman, and ultimately the Red Sox were the ones to land him at a price tag of $120 million over three years with opt-outs.

The Tigers got left behind despite making a competitive offer.

However, it sounds like they were close to winning the Bregman sweepstakes.

In a recent interview with Foul Territory, the former Astros star discussed his offseason process and how extensive it truly was, and when talking about what transpired, he made it clear another team was more likely to sign him before he inked his current deal.

"We thought we were going somewhere else the entire time ... We thought we were going to be in Detroit the entire time honestly, and at the last second Boston came in."

This is intriguing since Detroit seemed to be the favorites before things developed with Boston and he landed there.

Regardless, he did not return to the team that took him in the first round of the 2015 MLB draft, and instead spurned them for the team that selected him in the 29th round of the 2012 MLB draft prior to him enrolling at LSU.

Bregman was a huge contributor to Houston's success over the years, accruing 39.6 WAR that included a AL-leading 8.9 WAR in 2019.

He finishes his tenure with a .272/.366/.483 slash line, 191 home runs and 663 RBI with exception fielding where he only made 93 errors during his 9,579.2 innings in the field.

The Tigers could could have used his services, as could many teams in the MLB, but with the Astros adding Isaac Paredes and Cam Smith this offseason, Bregman became more expendable based on the price he was looking to receive.

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Jeremy Trottier
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