What Alex Bregman to the Chicago Cubs might mean for the Phillies’ Bo Bichette pursuit

Just as Chicago was mounting a move that could have a significant impact on Philadelphia’s pursuit of a Super Bowl, Chicago made a move that could have a significant impact on Philadelphia’s pursuit of a superstar.

Right as the Bears were beginning their Wild Card comeback over the Packers, reports (first among them the New York Post’s Jon Heyman) emerged that Alex Bregman agreed to a five-year, $175 million contract with the Cubs.

The ramifications on the Phillies are multiple.

First, the obvious: Bo Bichette (we’ll label him a superstar to support the above forced parallel) is seeing dollar signs. Bregman is almost four years older than Bichette; the former turns 32 right after Opening Day, the latter 28 a few weeks prior. They’re coming off comparable seasons offensively. Bichette likely won’t beat Bregman’s $35 million AAV, but that price tag, which is higher than most expected given Bregman’s age, drives up the price for Bichette that much more, even if the years are vastly different.

The two were often lumped together as the top infielders available on the free-agent market, with many overlapping suitors. For reasons such as market-setting and general desperation, signing last is lucrative.

The second is perhaps more important in the big picture: That list of suitors has evolved, and maybe not in the Phillies’ favor. Recent reports suggested that the Cubs were getting in on the Bichette market, but they’d been linked to Bregman the entire offseason — between the two, he seemed like their priority. And yet perhaps Bregman’s likeliest team until Saturday night was the Red Sox.

Boston is the most ominous cloud hanging over a Phillies marriage with Bichette. It might be down to those two teams.

After trading Rafael Devers and his associated contract during the season, the Red Sox (indicated they) intended to use the savings on a big-time infielder in the offseason. As his former employer, they were among Bregman’s strongest links — until Chicago swooped in. 

Reports already suggest the obvious: Bichette is their pivot. (Here’s MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale all pointing out the same.)

All indications, like this one from MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, are that the Red Sox were serious in Bregman’s sweepstakes. Now, maybe they’ll be more motivated to land Bichette than the Cubs would’ve been if Boston had re-signed Bregman. In perhaps an ideal world for the Phillies, those two sides reunite, the Cubs’ interest in Bichette pales in comparison to theirs in Bregman, and the Phillies are left as the last, hungriest team standing in the race for the 27-year-old.

If one of Boston or Chicago was going to get iced out, it was easier to imagine that team being Chicago.

That doesn’t mean Bichette-to-Boston is suddenly inevitable. It just means Bichette-to-Philadelphia might’ve gotten a little tougher on Saturday night. Or, at minimum, a little more expensive.

If nothing else, it probably means we’ll have a resolution sooner than later. If Bregman and Bichette were in a standoff to see which one would set the market and which would watch everyone else fight over who’s left, that standoff is over. Bichette will be the latter. We’ll see if it’s the Phillies who prevail.