3 bold Alex Bregman predictions after signing with Cubs

Alex Bregman was the most significant position player on the Boston Red Sox last season. He has a chance to play the same role for the Chicago Cubs in 2026.

Bregman signed a 5-year, $175 million contract with the Cubs after opting out of his 3-year deal with the Red Sox. He is one of the best 3rd basemen in Major League Baseball and he is also one of the best teammates and locker room contributors in the sport.

The 31-year-old Bregman spent 9 years with the Houston Astros before playing with the Red Sox in 2025. He slashed .273/.360/.462 with 18 home runs and 62 runs batted in last season. Bregman played 114 games with the Red Sox and lost nearly 50 games when he went down with a right quad muscle strain in the first half of the season.

Bregman had been relatively healthy throughout the majority of his career, but last year’s injury could indicate the aging process is starting to have an impact on his body.

Even if it does, Bregman is not going to merely accept it. He does everything he can to keep his body in shape so he can be a dominant contributor to the lineup.

He is a player who has reached the 41-home run mark in his career and has had as many as 112 RBI in his career. Both of those figures came when he was 25, so it may be difficult for him to approach either of those figures. However, he has been a brilliant clutch hitter in his career and was a key part of the Astros’ two World Series winning teams during his run with that team.

Bregman has been an All-Star three times in his career and he has also won the Gold Glove for his prowess on defense. He is also a sensational clubhouse presence who will talk to his teammates in an effort to instruct them, correct them, build them up or generally lift the spirits. He has been a team leader throughout his career.

Bregman takes significant No. 3 with iconic franchise

Bregman met the media after signing his new deal, and he explained why he would be wearing the No. 3 with the Cubs. He had worn the No. 2 during his career with the Astros and Red Sox but that number is worn by 2nd baseman Nico Hoerner. He explained that he took the No. 3 because he has been a part of teams that have won the World Series twice and he wants to win a third title.

“The two most important things to me are my family and winning baseball games,” he said during his initial meeting with the media. “From the beginning of the offseason, the Cubs expressed to me that they wanted me to be here, and they were committed to that and committed to my family.

“I cannot wait to get to work with all the guys on the team and in that clubhouse. Hopefully we can win a lot of baseball games and build something really special for a long time together.”

Bregman will have a spot in the middle of manager Craig Counsell’s lineup. He has been a significant run producer throughout his career and he takes tremendous pride in coming to play nearly every day in the season. That was not the case last year as a result of his quad injury. Counsell should be able to write his name in the lineup 140-145 times if he can stay healthy this year.

Production and emotional presence

That means he should produce 25 to 30 home runs at Wrigley Field with close to 100 RBI. A healthy season for Bregman will all but ensure that the Cubs return to the postseason again and that they will have an All-Star in their lineup. Whether that’s enough to get them past the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central Division or the loaded, back-to-back World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers is another story.

Bregman will give the Cubs the kind of locker room presence that few teams have. He will be in on meetings with all groups within the team, including starting and relief pitchers. He won’t tell them what to do, but he will share his experience by explaining what certain hitters will be looking for based on what he knows and has seen in the past.

Bregman will take slumping players aside and encourage them by building them up. He will stand up for the big things and the little things that he sees that are both right and wrong within the team.

Bregman has always been a team-first player and that’s what the Cubs are getting. He will be an excellent clutch hitter, a sensational defensive player and one of the most positive presences in the locker room the Cubs have seen since Hall of Famer Ernie Banks was in his heyday.

The post 3 bold Alex Bregman predictions after signing with Cubs appeared first on ClutchPoints.