Alex Bregman

"Our arms are still open. The door is still open. There's always a chance," Espada said. While, it's nice to hear Espada say that, it's unclear how Bregman would fit. The Astros acquired third baseman Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker trade and then signed Christian Walker to play first base. The only place for Bregman would be to move either Paredes or Walker to a full-time designated hitter spot, but given Yordan Alvarez's knee issues, it seems unwise for the Astros to force him to play the outfield every day. At this point, we'd still consider it a long-shot that Bregman returns to the Astros.

The MLB offseason is here and there are players available to fit every team's needs

Nicholson-Smith and Davidi note that talks between the two sides picked up on Friday morning. For what seems like a few weeks now, the Blue Jays have been mentioned as one of the favorites to land either Santander or Alex Bregman, and it sounds like they're making a strong push to get Santander. The 30-year-old slugger crushed a career-high 44 home runs and drove in 102 runs for the Orioles in 2024 and would provide a major boost to the middle of the Blue Jays' lineup.

The MLB offseason is here and there are players available to fit every team's needs

The Cubs have been linked to free agent third baseman Alex Bregman, but it doesn't sound like it's going to be a fit. The expectation has been all along that top prospect Matt Shaw would get the opportunity to win the job in spring training and Hoyer didn't say anything to dispel that on Friday. The Red Sox, Tigers and Blue Jays are the teams that still seem to be in the mix for Bregman.