The Chicago Cubs wanted Alex Bregman last winter, but they came up short.
They didn't let themselves come up short again.
The Cubs and Bregman are in agreement on a contract on Saturday night, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
The deal is for five years and $175 million, higher than pretty much every projection put out by any analyst for Bregman this offseason.
Clearly, the Cubs paid up to make sure Bregman didn't go anywhere else this time around.
Bregman had spent his entire MLB career as a star for the Houston Astros before last offseason.
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As a free agent, Bregman had the Cubs in the running along with the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. He signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox that featured a lot of deferred money.
That contract included an opt-out after one season, and Bregman took it. He wanted a big deal without so many deferrals.
The Red Sox and Tigers were believed to be in the market again. The Toronto Blue Jays were brought up as a possibility, too.
But in the end, the Cubs got it done.
It'll be Bregman's first time playing with a National League team. He's a great player still, a quality leader with a big bat and solid glove.
His acquisition will take over third base for the Cubs. That means the youngster Matt Shaw will have to move to second base, which could then necessitate a Nico Hoerner move, too.
The Cubs will worry about those moves later. For now, they've got Bregman, and that's what matters.
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