Sep 10, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman (2) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a run against the Athletics during the third inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images Dennis Lee-Imagn Images
Alex Bregman already is one of the most talked-about stars available in free agency right now.
This was the case before he even opted out of his deal with the Boston Red Sox and has only picked up steam since. He’s a star coming off his best season in a few years. Plus, he helped get one of baseball’s storied franchises back to the playoffs. It’s a perfect storm for free agency. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he has the most well-known agent out there in Scott Boras.
On Wednesday, Boras held a press conference where he discussed some of his clients. Unsurprisingly, Bregman was brought up and he had a clever coffee-themed response.
“I would certainly think that you know, like in Boston, we learned a lot about Bregman in 2025,” Boras said. “In Boston, prior to ’25, they had a lot of lineup do-not-holes and certainly, prior to ’25, Boston has been kind of a club that has been Dunkin’ well below the playoff line. I think it was a bad roast in Beantown. Give the owners credit, in ’25 they went out and spent some star-bucks to bring in a Bregman blend and got them to the playoffs. I’m sure Boston fans don’t want this to be just a cup of coffee. No one wants a Bregxit.”
All jokes aside, Boras isn’t wrong. Boston had a tough few years before bringing Bregman in. The Boston lineup was lefty-heavy and young and desperately needed a right-handed veteran with pop.
Bregman fit the description and more. The Red Sox handed him an aggressive $120 million deal for three seasons and really showed the league that they were willing to get back into the mix for star-level talent again.
Also, he’s not wrong about the fact that Boston fans likely don’t want the partnership to be short-lived. Now, it’s in the hands of the front office and agents. But, Boston made the right move by bringing Bregman in last offseason and it’s going to be a big topic over at least the next few weeks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are not only losing games, they are losing players at a rapid rate as they prepare to host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
The Maple Leafs finished their 5-3 road loss to Boston Bruins on Tuesday without captain Auston Matthews (lower-body injury) and No. 1 goaltender Anthony Stolarz (upper-body).
Matthews left the game in the second period after taking a hit in the back from Boston defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
“I think it’s a penalty, personally, but I’m not the referee,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “I don’t like the hit. He’s in a vulnerable position.”
Matthews returned a hit on Zadorov before finishing his shift.
No matter who is available, the Maple Leafs appear to have a difficult task against the Kings, who are coming off a 5-1 road win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday and have won two in a row, as well as three of their past four.
As for Matthews, he was to be assessed on Wednesday, a day off for the team.
After the game, Berube was uncertain about the severity of the injury.
“I don’t know exactly,” he said. “I can’t give you a timeline or how serious it is right now. I’m not sure when he hurt it to be honest with you.”
Stolarz was replaced by Dennis Hildeby after the first period but Berube did not seem concerned.
“I don’t believe that’s serious,” Berube said. “I think he’ll be fine.”
Goaltender Joseph Woll, who missed the early weeks of the season for a personal issue, is with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League and is close to returning to the Maple Leafs.
Toronto already is without top defenseman Chris Tanev and forward Scott Laughton, who both have upper-body injuries.
The Maple Leafs have lost three straight after winning three in a row. They have struggled at times despite playing 12 of their first 16 games at home.
“It’s adversity, for sure,” said forward Max Domi, who had an assist for Toronto in Boston. “Every guy in here is champing at the bit. Everyone wants an opportunity and here’s our opportunity. Everyone’s got to step up. Next-man-up mentality.”
The Kings are playing well on the road, having won the first two matchups of their current six-game trip.
They are 7-1-2 away from home and will be pursuing a fifth consecutive road victory on Thursday.
“It’s weird — like, two years ago, same thing,” said Quinton Byfield, who had a goal and an assist on Tuesday. “We were hot on the road, last year we were hot at home, now we’re hot on the road, I guess, again. I can’t say anything about that, it’s kind of how it goes sometimes, so obviously you want to make it both home and away and get some wins at home, but we’ve got to finish the road trip strong.”
The Kings trailed after the first period at Montreal, then erupted for three goals in a span of 4:05 early in the second.
“We felt pretty good about the period, so to come out one down was disappointing,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “But I thought we did a good job not to overreact and just understand that the way we’re playing, just come out and do it again.”