Alex Bregman has reached a 3-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox in Boston

Alex Bregman and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a $120 million, three-year contract, as reported by a source familiar with the deal on Wednesday night. The person requested anonymity because the agreement is subject to a successful physical.

Bregman will receive a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season, and $40 million each of the next two years, with some deferred payments. He has the option to opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.

Bregman is expected to move from third base to second base, as the Red Sox already have All-Star Rafael Devers at third.

“I texted him right when it went through last night. I just couldn’t be more fired up to have him here,” said new Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet on Thursday. “I think you look at the intangibles, and he has them all. I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about him being an absolute baseball rat, a guy that loves the game and works hard. Obviously, his pedigree speaks for itself, won a couple of World Series, the Gold Glove last year shows that he’s still at the top of his game.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was Houston’s bench coach in 2017, compared Bregman to former Boston star Dustin Pedroia. Cora was suspended for the 2020 season due to his involvement in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.

“That is a person I really like,” Cora said. “With all those guys we went through a lot. We’re still going through a lot. We made a mistake in ’17 and some of us paid the price. We’re back in baseball. We got a second chance. A.J. (Hinch) got a second chance. I did, too. Carlos (Beltrán) is still getting penalized because he did that. He should be a Hall of Famer already. He should be managing, too.”

Bregman, a two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion with Houston, is 30 years old and coming off one of his weaker offensive seasons. He hit .260 with 26 homers and 75 RBIs in the final year of a $100 million, five-year deal, and won his first Gold Glove.

Bregman has hit 19 postseason home runs, tied for sixth in MLB history. He was drafted by Houston as the second overall pick in the 2015 draft, made his debut in 2016, and hit .284 with 19 homers, 71 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases in 2017.

He hit four homers and had 10 RBIs in the postseason as the Astros won their first World Series title, a championship that was tainted when an MLB investigation revealed that the team used illegal electronics to steal signs.

Bregman had RBIs in his first five World Series games, homering off Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 and Kenley Jansen in Game 4, and hitting a walk-off 10th-inning single against Jansen in Game 5.

Bregman finished fifth in AL MVP voting in 2018 and second in 2019, which were his two most productive seasons. He batted .286 with 31 homers, 103 RBIs, and a league-leading 51 doubles in 2018, and set career highs the following season with a .296 average, 41 homers, 112 RBIs, and a league-leading 119 walks.

He walked only 44 times in 2024, with a 23.6% chase rate, his highest since 2017.

In nine big league seasons, Bregman has a .272 average, 191 homers, and 663 RBIs.

Since Bregman rejected a $21.05 million qualifying offer from the Astros, they will receive an extra pick after the fourth round of the amateur draft in July. Houston forfeited its second- and fifth-highest picks to sign Christian Walker. Boston will lose its second-highest pick for signing Bregman and forfeit $500,000 from its international signing bonus pool.

After finishing with an 81-81 record and missing the playoffs for the third straight season, the Red Sox have added Crochet, along with pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman, and Justin Wilson.

“I’ve been relatively active in terms of talking to Bres,” Buehler said, referring to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “I love to play GM in my head, not that I have any real sway in it, but any time you join a new franchise, or where you have been, you want to feel like you’re a part of it and have some voice in it.”