Houston Astros: Alex Bregman Feels ‘Disappointed’ by Contract Renewal

Alex Bregman has a bone to pick with the Houston Astros. After an MVP caliber season, the infielder is “disappointed” by how the team decided to reward him.

Make no bones about it, Alex Bregman is good for baseball. Be it his performance on the field for the Houston Astros or his constant presence on social media, Bregman understands what it takes to be an MLB superstar.

In 2018, Bregman established himself as an MVP caliber third baseman, smacking an MLB-leading 51 doubles while putting together a .397 OBP and .532 SLG. His bat didn’t do all the talking either.

Defensively, while not at Matt Chapman‘s level, Bregman wowed onlookers, making nearly impossible plays look easy.

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Despite all of this, however, the Astros have decided to reward the stud infielder with a $41,500 raise.

This seems to be the latest trend among big league teams, rewarding their young players with raises that pale in comparison to their arbitration-eligible counterparts. Even when they outperform them by a lot.

To be fair, as Blake Snell noted after being given a $15,500 raise by the Tampa Bay Rays, teams are under no obligation to reward their players for their performance while under control.

However, when it comes to a player that led the team in just about every offensive category in 2018, or in Snell’s case, the AL Cy Young award, it seems only fair to demonstrate to that player that you value his commitment and position on the team.

Bregman said just as much via Brian McTaggart of mlb.com.

"“I understand that it’s a business, but I feel like good business would be wanting to make a player who performed at a high level on your team happy and want to feel like he wanted to be kept and feel like they wanted him to play here forever. I’m just disappointed it doesn’t seem like the same amount of want.”"

It’ll be interesting to see how negotiations between Bregman and the Houston Astros pan out once he becomes arbitration eligible. As far as the organization goes, this isn’t a good start.