Alex Bregman Or Nolan Arenado? Pros, Cons Of Red Sox Blockbuster Ideas

The clock is ticking until spring training begins and the Boston Red Sox still have two premier options to potentially mark their offseason’s final blockbuster: Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado.

Bregman, a free agent, and Arenado, a current member of the St. Louis Cardinals in search of a trade, have both been linked to Boston in the past few months. Bregman worked alongside Red Sox skipper Alex Cora during the 49-year-old’s lone season as the bench coach of the Houston Astros. Arenado spent five seasons with Boston shortstop Trevor Story as teammates with the Colorado Rockies.

Either way, the Red Sox have checked off several boxes this offseason, but the addition of a right-handed bat has yet to be crossed off. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been on the hunt for a right-handed bat since last season’s trade deadline and Bregman and Arenado both fit that profile.

With that in mind, here are a few pros and cons to consider:

ARENADO: EXPIRING CONTRACT (PRO)
The cost for Arenado won’t break the bank by any measure.

Arenado is owed $74 million for the remaining three years of his contract with the Cardinals, and St. Louis appears more than compliant. When the Astros engaged in trade discussions with the Cardinals, St. Louis was willing to eat $15 to $20 million of Arenado’s contract — before the 33-year-old refused to waive his no-trade clause to go to the Astros. That means Boston wouldn’t be tied to a long-term commitment, which relieves any worry about the crew of up-and-coming prospects — Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony — having a seat saved with the big-league club.

BREGMAN: DEFENSIVE VERSATILITY (PRO)
Boston committed the second most errors (115) of any team in baseball last season, and the most in the American League. So any upgrade of any sort would be ideal.

Bregman, a Gold Glove Award recipient this past season, isn’t just an elite infielder, he’s a versatile one, too. The 30-year-old spent the majority of his nine-year career guarding the hot corner (977 starts), but Bregman also has experience at shortstop (129 starts) and second base (nine starts). He’s even logged two starts in left field, although that’d be unlikely in Boston.

The Red Sox haven’t had much second-base stability amid the post-Dustin Pedroia era and asking Bregman to fill the void wouldn’t be a bad idea.

ARENADO: SWING TAILOR-MADE FOR FENWAY PARK (PRO)
Taking home run laps wasn’t Areando’s strong suit last season, but there’s context to consider when eyeing the statistics.

Arenado played 77 games at Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals, which isn’t the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the majors. The left field wall extends from 336 feet to 375 feet as it nears the 400-foot centerfield dimension. That alone doesn’t solely explain Arenado’s home run drop from 26 in 2023 to 16 in 2024, but it’s certainly a factor since 13 of those home runs landed in left field.

Fenway Park, although 94 years older than Busch Stadium, offers a much less harsh 310-foot distance from home plate to its Green Monster wall in left field. Arenado’s 23.5% flyball rate, per Baseball Savant, was the second-lowest of his career but his pull rate of 44.2% remained solid and topped four-time All-Star Pete Alonso (41.6%).

It’s not hard to envision Arenado undergoing a power revival in Boston.

BREGMAN: CORA CONNECTION (PRO)
It was just a single season for which Bregman and Cora shared the dugout as members of the Astros, but it was enough to leave an impression.

Cora raved about Bregman when asked about the two-time World Series champion at MLB’s Winter Meetings in Dallas.

“Alex is a good player, man,” Cora told reporters in December, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. “He’s a complete player. He’s a player that’s been on winning teams, right, his whole career. Good defender. Offensively, he’s really good. He’s a guy that a lot of people are talking about, and I do believe he can impact a big league team, a championship-caliber team. He’s that type of player.”

ARENADO: DEFENSIVE DILEMMA (CON)
There aren’t many third basemen in baseball as reliable as Arenado, a collector of 10 Gold Glove Awards.

But the Red Sox already have a starting third baseman in Rafael Devers so adding Arenado would prompt a role shuffling of some sort. Arenado hasn’t played anywhere except for third base in his career and while Boston could toss him in the designated hitter’s role as a worst-case scenario, it would be a waste of having Arenado’s 97.2% fielding percentage not going to use on a team that needs a defensive lift.

BREGMAN: PRICE TAG (CON)
Free agency, at the end of the day, is overruled by the business side of baseball and Bregman’s desired contract isn’t a great sign.

Houston already presented Bregman with a six-year, $156 million contract offer earlier this offseason, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, and it was met with rejection from Bregman’s camp. Competing with a long-term offer like Houston’s isn’t conducive to Boston’s plan to put the keys to the franchise’s future in the hands of its upcoming prospects. If Bregman isn’t the everyday solution of some sort, there’s little incentive for the Red Sox to make their largest commitment since signing Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million contract two years ago.

A steep price doesn’t seem likely.

FINAL VERDICT: Arenado is the better of the two options.