After a solid season in 2025 capped off with an NLDS loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs reloaded their roster in a major way, replacing a departing Kyle Tucker with his former Houston Astros teammate Alex Bregman, the do-it-all third baseman the team was reportedly interested in before last season, too.

Asked about finally landing Bregman in free agency, Cubs baseball president Jed Hoyer noted it came down to two teams, and he's happy his club was able to secure the win over the Red Sox.

“I had a good feeling that it was going to be us or the Red Sox, I guess, even going back to the beginning of the offseason. We had had good communication with him last year. He knew of our interest. We immediately kind of rekindled that to start the offseason. But I knew he had a really good experience in Boston. They're a good young team. He meshed with their young players. And so with that, I knew it was going to be challenging to not have him be a Red Sox,” Hoyer said.

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“So I had a sense that it was going to be one of those two places. And obviously, I'm thrilled with the way it ended up. But he's a really good player. He plays good defense. He makes great contact. He has power. He makes good decisions. On top of that, I think he provides a level of leadership to a team that's ready to win. I think that's really important. He wants to make other guys better. He wants to lead. And I think that there's not a lot of guys like that in the game that want that responsibility. And so that was definitely a factor in the decision.”

A three-time All-Star with two World Series wins, an AS MVP, a Gold Glove, and a Silver Slugger on his resume, Bregman proved he can win games during his tenure with the Astros and was able to provide some veteran leadership to a Boston Red Sox squad that won eight more games than the year prior. With Tucker gone and the NL Central always a tough go, Bregman is the exact kind of player who can help the Cubs get where they want to be.