Red Sox "Plan B" after losing Alex Bregman should have been Cubs' Plan A

The Chicago Cubs rocked their fanbase's world back in January when they signed star third baseman Alex Bregman to a five-year deal, swiping him away from the Red Sox at the eleventh hour of negotiations. At the time, it felt like a massive win for the Cubs and a blow that would send Boston spiraling headed into 2026. For the most part, that's still true. Bregman has been an asset for Chicago, and Boston finds themselves in last place in the AL East.

That doesn't tell the full story, however. Bregman's Cubs find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture as well after the team's recent skid. Perhaps even more frustrating than that, though, is that the Red Sox ended up repurposing the Bregman money to sign a player who would've been an even better fit for the Cubs' needs in hindsight: lefty Ranger Suarez. Suarez, 31 in August, signed a five-year, $130M contract with the Red Sox that was actually cheaper than the Bregman deal.

There's little question that the signing was a rebound for Boston after losing Bregman. In fact, Suarez signed with Boston just days after the Cubs swooped in to steal away Bregman in a move that MassLive's Chris Cotillo bluntly referred to at the time as a pivot to "Plan B" for the Red Sox. Flash forward four months, and it's easy to make a case that both teams would be better off if they had landed the other's free agent.

In Chicago, Bregman's decent but unremarkable .699 OPS isn't a marked improvement over the work of Matt Shaw (.691). While Shaw is currently on the shelf, prospect Pedro Ramirez has emerged as an exciting backup option who has already forced his way onto the big league roster even with Bregman in the fold. By contrast, Suarez's 3.02 ERA and 3.30 FIP through ten starts would make him the clear ace of the Cubs' rotation.

The inverse is true for the Red Sox, to an extent. Suarez's contributions to the rotation have been very valuable, but Payton Tolle and Connelly Early (not to mention possible Cubs trade target Sonny Gray) have done just as much to keep their rotation in good shape while Garrett Crochet is on the injured list. That makes Suarez an unnecessary luxury for the Red Sox, on some level, while Bregman would be a game changer for a team that has gotten bottom-of-the-barrel offense all over the infield.

The real winner of the Cubs' Alex Bregman signing was.... the Brewers?

As if Hoyer splurging on an arguably redundant position player during an offseason where the Cubs desperately needed a starting pitcher (who was readily available at the same price tag) wasn't frustrating enough, the Bregman deal wound up creating a domino effect that made Chicago's biggest rival substantially better.

With Bregman off the market, the Red Sox were forced to pivot aggressively to find a way to fill out their infield. They ultimately did that by acquiring infielder Caleb Durbin from the Brewers in a massive six-player trade that also included a draft pick heading to Boston. The centerpiece of the return headed to Milwaukee was left-hander Kyle Harrison.

At the time of the deal, Harrison was a former top prospect who appeared to be squeezed out of Boston's rotation mix by the Suarez signing. Since joining Milwaukee, though, he's looked like a true ace. The southpaw's start to his career in Milwaukee even has MLB.com's Adam McCalvy drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer C.C. Sabathia's infamous 2008 run with the Brewers. Meanwhile, Durbin has done nothing for the Red Sox with an OPS below .500 this year at third base.

Keeping the Brewers from adding a 24-year-old with five years of team control and that much talent to their starting rotation might be more valuable to the Cubs than signing Bregman in the long-run even if Hoyer's front office didn't reinvest that money. The fact that they could've easily signed a legitimate front-of-the-rotation arm to help lead the club through this tough stretch instead only adds insult to injury for Cubs fans.

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