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Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at the professional and collegiate levels. He's worked/works for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics, and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for SI and Newsweek among others. Find him on Twitter/X @zpretzel
Contributing Sports Writer
The Alex Bregman sweepstakes has been down to five teams -- the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Detroit Tigers -- for a week or so. Over the last few days, the race seems to have narrowed even further with the Red Sox and Blue Jays seemingly distant suitors now.
Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller recently predicted Bregman to betray the Astros and sign with the Cubs. Miller also cited Spotrac's projection of a $120 million deal for the superstar.
"The Cubs also have a star prospect to keep in mind, as signing Bregman would mean keeping Matt Shaw—MLB.com's No. 19 prospect—on the back burner after a 2024 campaign in which he excelled at both Double-A and Triple-A," Miller wrote. "They are all-in on winning right now, though, with their one year of Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly, and they would be kicking themselves later if they don't sign Bregman and Shaw's foray into the majors goes as poorly as Brett Baty's did. Purely a hunch, but Chicago having a little more desperation/need pushes them over the top."
Chicago would need to make a few corresponding moves alongside adding Bregman, but the addition would be a huge step in the right direction either way.
If Bregman ends up signing for much more than $100 million, the Cubs would likely need to trade Nico Hoerner to avoid crossing over the luxury tax. Hoerner is a potential trade candidate either way. Signing Bregman would create a logjam in the Chicago infield and Hoerner, not top prospect Matt Shaw, would likely be the odd man out.
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