SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman underwent a procedure to remove a bone chip from his right elbow, his agent Scott Boras said Wednesday.
Boras said Bregman is on track to resume swinging a bat “in a few weeks” and hinted he will be at full strength for spring training. Bregman underwent a similar arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips from the same elbow after the 2018 season.
Bregman played the final month and a half of the Houston Astros’ season with what he described as “gremlins” in his right elbow. He sat out a mid-August series against the Chicago White Sox due to swelling and his availability thereafter had to be monitored almost daily.
Bregman finished his platform year with a .768 OPS and an American League Gold Glove at third base. He is considered the second or third-best position player on the free-agent market, trailing only Juan Soto and Willy Adames.
The Athletic’s Tim Britton projects that Bregman will get a six-year, $180 million deal on the open market.
On Tuesday, Astros general manager Dana Brown called retaining Bregman the team’s “biggest priority” this winter and described a series of “productive” conversations with Boras.
“They clearly understand the rarity of being in four World Series and being in the postseason eight years in a row and him being a centerpiece of that,” Boras said Wednesday, speaking at the annual general managers’ meetings.
“They’ve certainly measured to me throughout the process they’re actively engaged. As to meeting markets and the demand of this kind of player, you just don’t have many players on the dirt that do what he does. Also that Bregman can play second base, third base, his leadership — it’s a market certainly that the Astros are very aware is very healthy for him.”
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
