Alex Bregman, the Astros’ New Shortstop — One Solution to Carlos Correa’s Impending Departure is Intriguing

Walking out of the Visitors Clubhouse at Truist Field, Alex Bregman wears a hip fedora hat with designer shades pushed up on his head. When he stops to talk to reporters waiting in the corridor, he flips down the shades to combat the blindingly bright TV camera lights, grinning all the way. At this moment, it sure looks like Alex Bregman’s swagger is back.

The edge and extra confidence that helped make him one of the best players in all of baseball in 2019 is there. For at least a moment. Bregman had just collected his biggest hit of the postseason, lacing a second inning double to drive in the first run of the Astros’ Game 5 comeback. For the first time in a long while, he really looked like himself.

Of course, it didn’t last. The Astros would lose Game 6 to the Atlanta Braves at home two days later — and watch another team celebrate a world championship on their home field for the second time in three years. But that flash of the ultra confident version of Alex Bregman could be the biggest key to keeping this near Houston dynasty rolling into a new era of it.

With Carlos Correa almost assuredly gone (after he signs a $350 million-plus contract with a new team), the Astros are going to need more offense. And a very good defensive shortstop. A healthy, back to 2019 form Bregman could effectively fill both voids.

Moving Bregman back to shortstop, the position he turned himself into a star at during his days at LSU, could make a lot of sense for Jim Crane’s club. It may be easier and cheaper to find a third baseman replacement with some power than looking for a new elite shortstop not currently on the roster.

In many ways, the 2022 Astros could be as defined by Alex Bregman as much as the 2021 Astros were defined by Carlos Correa.

Bregman definitely does not want Correa to leave in free agency. But he provides a solution that few other teams losing a player the caliber of Carlos Correa would have.

“After the game, just thanked him for leading this team,” Bregman says on the night the Astros season ended. “. . . Being able to play with him for the last six years has been special. He’s one of the smartest baseball players in the world. And he’s one of the hardest working. He eats, sleeps and breathes the game.

“It’s been honestly amazing to play with him. I really hope we can sign him back because I think we’ve got a good shot at continuing to do this for a long time if we do.”

Re-signing Correa seems very unlikely considering the Astros’ stance towards longterm mega contracts under Crane (one that makes baseball sense) and general manager James Click’s lack of a belief in the efficiency of those type of deals. But the Astros keeping it going remains a strong possibility. Especially if Bregman can emerge as the elite player and leader young Astros superstars in training like Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker need.

Departing Astros pitching coach Brent Strom, one of the wisest baseball minds you’ll ever come across, says both Correa and Bregman are natural leaders. Now, Bregman will be depended on to take on more of that responsibility in his upcoming age 28 season.

In many ways, the 2022 Astros could be as defined by Alex Bregman as much as the 2021 Astros were defined by Correa.

Bregman seems aware of the burden he must meet too. “It’s a super important offseason to get fully healthy and get ready to play 162,” he says.

To make that happen, Bregman underwent right wrist surgery on Monday — taking care of one of the ailments that clearly limited him during the playoffs. Bregman does not believe in making excuses, but his good health could change the Astros fortunes.

This is someone who’s shown he is capable of putting up superstar numbers in a season. Offensive numbers that Correa himself never reached in his seven seasons in Houston. Bregman racked up 51 doubles, 31 home runs, 105 runs scored and 103 RBI while playing 157 games in 2018. He put up 37 doubles, 41 home runs, 122 runs scored and 112 RBI while playing 156 games in 2019.

At that point, Alex Bregman was a superstar ascendent. But in the last two years, he’s only been able to play 40 (out of 6o during that COVID shrunk 2020) and 91 games while producing only 18 home runs and 77 RBI combined.

The Health of Alex Bregman

No one needs to remind Bregman that he needs to stay healthy in order for the Astros to continue to be one of baseball’s best teams in 2022. He brings it up himself in his last press conference of the 2021 season with little prompting.

“You obviously take pride in being healthy and being there for a full season, and I wasn’t able to do that for the last two years,” he says.

The Astros’ new shortstop? Probably. The Astros’ new lifeline? Most definitely.

Chances are the Houston Astros will need to depend on Alex Bregman more than ever in 2022. Pedro Leon — the second ranked prospect in the Houston organization — is another possible internal shortstop solution. But Leon is more likely to play centerfield when he finds a regular role. Bregman looms as a much more likely shortstop heir.

On that night in Atlanta, he seems ready. And full of swag. Even if he almost forgets his fedora. Steve Grande, the Astros senior manager of communications, has to call after Bregman to remind him of the hat. Bregman swirls back, grabs it and puts it on his head with a smile.

It’s good to be a baseball star who’s certain better days are ahead.