SAN ANTONIO, Texas — It is Dana Brown’s turn to take part in a time-honored tradition. His two predecessors piloted the Houston Astros through similar situations by sharing strong sentiments that rang hollow when the team said goodbye to superstars it refused to retain. The precedent portends Alex Bregman playing elsewhere next season.
Shattering it would be Brown’s biggest victory in 2 1/2 seasons as Houston’s general manager, pleasing Jose Altuve and the plethora of fans who’ve already made peace with Bregman’s departure. Advertisement “We’d love to have Alex Bregman back,” Brown said. “It’s our biggest priority.
” Brown called Bregman a “priority” four more times during a 40-minute meeting with reporters Tuesday at the general managers’ meetings. The same rhetoric surrounded the sweepstakes for George Springer and Carlos Correa , diminishing the comment’s meaning even though there’s a new man in charge. Brown is perpetually overflowing with optimism.
Expecting anything less Tuesday felt foolish, but the urgency with which he spoke struck a different tone from so many of his prior public comments. Asked to ponder the team’s contingency plans if Bregman does leave, Brown sounded like someone who hasn’t considered the possibility. “Our mindset right now is that he’s not going elsewhere and we want to sign him,” Brown said.
“If he ends up going elsewhere, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but I’m going into this offseas.