Is Alex Bergman “a done deal” for the Arizona Diamondbacks?

To be honest, I had not been paying particular attention to the “OMG! ALEX BREGMAN TO THE D-BACKS!!!” reports doing the rounds. It seemed like too much of a budgetary stretch, for a team frequently reported to be looking to reduce payroll. Even in the wake of a Ketel Marte trade, there simply did not seem to be enough room in the budget for the team to add him. After all, MLB Trade Rumours had Bergman as the #5 free-agent on the market this winter, predicting a contract for him of six years and $160 million. That’s an average annual value of $27 million, close to twice as much as the team’s next most expensive position player (Marte at $15 million).

However, local radio personality Dan Bickley made a bold and striking statement this afternoon on Arizona Sports:

I think it’s a matter of time before they get Alex Bregman. I think that’s a done deal, to be honest with you. When they signed Corbin Burns, I had a very good source tell me that Alex Bregman was begging them as well for a contract. Alex Bregman wants to live in Arizona, the same way Corbin Burnes did, and he’s about to give the Diamondbacks a discount to do so. He’s going to be on this baseball team. It’s just a matter [of] can they trade Ketel Marte beforehand? There’s a weird game of chicken going on. So I think Alex Bregman is going to be here, regardless.

Now, I must confess to being a bit skeptical of Bickley, at least compared to John Gambadoro, who has a very solid track record of reporting with regard to the D-backs. It always felt to me that Bickley’s interests don’t particularly seem to be in baseball, so much as other sports. But the above sounds remarkably sure of itself: there isn’t a lot of “maybe” and “possibly” to be found in that paragraph. So it may be time to start at least considering the possibility that this might be a little more than Bregman’s agent – Scott Boras, naturally – trying to drive up the asking price for his client, by trying to generate a bidding war.

The appeal to Arizona is obvious. Bregman would be a long-term solution at third-base, a place where the team has had a hole since the departure of Eugenio Suarez. Presuming the team does trade Marte as well, then this would likely mean Jordan Lawlar takes over at second-base. But just the difference between the price of Marte and Bregman would likely use up all remaining resources for team improvements – and still might require some creative financing involve deferrals [Hey, if it’s good enough for the Dodgers…] Things like rebuilding the bullpen would then need to be handled in another edition of Dumpster Diving with Mike Hazen.

If it does not happen, then that will confirm that Bickley is not to be trusted when it comes to the D-backs. For what it’s worth, Gambadoro addressed the Bergman report on X, saying “Have never ruled it out, still think it is a long shot but not impossible… Don’t see it happening unless they move Marte.” I think it’s interesting that we have two reporters from the same broadcast outlet: one calls Arizona signing Bergman a “done deal”, the other thinks it is “a long shot.” We’ll see who’s right in the coming days!