Alex Bregman free agency update makes it painfully clear Cubs won’t sign him

It feels good to say out loud that the Chicago Cubs should sign Alex Bregman in a move that would push Matt Shaw to a utility role on the bench. Bregman's arrival would boost a Cubs' starting lineup that will be missing Kyle Tucker once spring training gets underway, and Shaw moving to the bench would address an area that has been a liability of Jed Hoyer's roster construction in recent years.

That likely is the reason why the Cubs' front office is desperate to find a way to get Bregman this offseason. Just like they were last offseason.

What can't be overlooked when thinking about the Cubs' second attempt to land Bregman is how it ended the first time. The Boston Red Sox offered Bregman a creative three-year deal worth $120M ($90M in present-day value) and also an opt-out after each year of the deal.

Cubs' renewed interest in Alex Bregman will have a similar outcome as last offseason.

Sure, it was an aggressive offer from Boston, but in this current age of Major League Baseball, that is what is needed to close out a deal. Something the Cubs have proven incapable of doing when it comes to targets they have who are also drawing strong interest elsewhere.

It's the reason why Dylan Cease will be pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays next season, and Tatsuya Imai will be with the Houston Astros. The decisive offer is the decisive offer, regardless of how it is framed after the fact.

It's also going to be the reason why Bregman won't sign with the Cubs this offseason. ESPN's Buster Olney and Jesse Rogers talked about the slow pace to this offseason, and Bregman was a part of that update. Olney reported that the Red Sox have signaled a willingness ot pay Bregman with the lucrative long-term contract that alluded him last offseason.

Olney points to Boston being willing to offer a deal similar to the $171.5M offer Bregman received from the Detroit Tigers last winter.

In other words, Bregman's price isn't coming down, and the Cubs will remain on the outside looking in. Perhaps in a scenario where Chicago trades Nico Hoerner for a cost-controlled starting pitcher, they get more aggressive in their pursuit of the All-Star third baseman, but that feels like an unlikely scenario to play out.

Bregman will likely join a group of "almost Cubs" that includes Jake Peavy, Brian Roberts, Rafael Furcal, and Bryce Harper. A list that never ends.