The Houston Astros have had a busy offseason that included trading Kyle Tucker and signing Christian Walker. Despite spending his nine-year career in Houston, Alex Bregman remains a free agent.

And while Bregman wanted to return to the Astros, general manager Dana Brown revealed contract talks stalled, which led to them exploring other options.

“The way I view it right now is Paredes is going to play third base and Walker is going to play first base,” Brown said, via ESPN. “Bregman’s still a free agent… I thought we made a really competitive offer, showing that we wanted him back, but we had to pursue other options. We couldn’t just sit there. We locked in Paredes early in that trade, knowing that he could play third or first, and then when the opportunity to add another bat came up, we just jumped on it.”

When the Astros traded Tucker they acquired third baseman Isaac Paredes. Without a contract for Bregman, Brown and company elected to see what else they could get to address the position.

Bregman has been linked to teams this offseason including the Boston Red Sox. Bregman could play shortstop or third for Boston, but the Red Sox have Rafael Devers to man the corner position. At one point the Red Sox were believed to be potentially prioritizing Bregman after Juan Soto signed with the New York Mets.

The Red Sox have made moves this offseason including trading for Garrett Crochet and signing Walker Buehler. But they still have some holes to fill in their lineup and Bregman could fill that void.

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