Houston’s Alex Bregman is one of the rising superstars in the American League and finished second in the AL MVP voting last year behind Mike Trout. Here are two props available to wager at Mybookie on Bregman’s 2020 MLB season – assuming there is one – and an overview.
Alex Bregman MLB Awards Odds & Analysis For 2020 Season
- Most home runs of any batter: Bregman is +4000
- AL MVP Award: Bregman is +1400
More and more teams are trying to lock up their best young players to long-term deals. There are risks for both sides but ideally the teams get an undervalued contract and buy out a player’s arbitration years and few in free agency.
That’s what the Houston Astros were thinking when they signed third baseman Alex Bregman in March 2019 to a five-year, $100 million contract extension that will keep him a member of the Astros through the 2024 season, when Bregman will be 30 years old. Bregman, who was already under contract for 2019, received a $10 million signing bonus and will be paid $11 million in 2020-22 and $28.5 million in 2023-24.
The extension bought out his next three arbitration-eligible years (2020-22) and the first two years of his free agency (2023-24) and came after Bregman had criticized the Astros’ spending. Houston had renewed Bregman’s contract for the 2019 season at $640,500, and he was upset that he and the club couldn’t reach a higher agreement. The Astros selected Bregman in the first round of the 2015 draft out of LSU.
That extension already looks like a win for Houston. Bregman finished 2018 with a .286/.394/.532 slash line with 103 RBIs and 31 home runs while also receiving his first All-Star bid.
Last year, he was even better in finishing second to Mike Trout for AL MVP. Among AL players in the 2019 regular season, Bregman ranked first in WAR (8.4), first in walks (119), second in OBP (.423), third in SLG (.592), third in OPS (1.015), tied for third in homers (41), fourth in runs (122) and fifth in RBI (112).
He was one of three MLB players last year to go 100+ in runs, walks and RBI, along with Trout and Washington’s Juan Soto. In Astros history, Bregman is one of three players to do that, joining Jeff Bagwell (6x) and Lance Berkman (2x).
Bregman became just the fifth player in AL history with 40 HR, 110 walks, 35 doubles and less than 90 K’s in a season. He joined Frank Thomas in 1993 (AL MVP), Ted Williams in 1949 (AL MVP), Lou Gehrig in 1936 (AL MVP) and Babe Ruth in 1924, 1921, 1920.
Bregman’s 41 home runs were the most by an Astro since Lance Berkman hit 45 in 2006. His 112 RBI were the most by an Astro since Carlos Lee had 119 in 2007. His 119 walks are the most by an Astro since Berkman walked 127 times in 2004 and his 122 runs were the most by an Astro since Jeff Bagwell had 126 in 2001.
Bregman hit a grand slam in Game 4 of the World Series vs. Washington, the 20th grand slam in World Series history and the first by an AL player since Paul Konerko hit one for the White Sox against the Astros in the 2005 World Series. Bregman finished with five RBI that game, which tied the Astros postseason franchise record.
Finally, Bregman has homered 10 times in his postseason career, all off former All-Stars. They are LHP Chris Sale (2x), LHP Clayton Kershaw, RHP Kenley Jansen, RHP Corey Kluber, RHP Trevor Bauer, LHP Blake Snell, RHP Stephen Strasburg (2x) and RHP Fernando Rodney.
This spring, few Astros apologized for the team’s sign-stealing scandal, but Bregman was one of them. In the wake of the commissioner’s report on the Astros, owner Jim Crane fired manager AJ Hinch along with general manager Jeff Luhnow on Jan. 13.
“I am really sorry about the choices that were made by me team, by the organization and by me. I’ve learned from this and I hope to regain the trust of baseball fans,” Bregman said.
