Losing Alex Bregman to the Cubs has Red Sox Nation sounding a lot like NY Mets fans

Red Sox fans are frustrated with their team in similar yet different ways as Mets fans.
Wild Card Series - Boston Red Sox v New York Yankees - Game 3
Wild Card Series - Boston Red Sox v New York Yankees - Game 3 | Daniel Shirey/GettyImages

A large collection of New York Mets fans aren’t happy right now. In what has been a winter of subtraction and now a cold, harsh nothingness, there have been plenty of reasonable gripes for the impatient ones among us.

We’re not alone in this wilderness called the 2025-2026 MLB offseason. Plenty of other teams have fanbases not so happy with their leadership. Losing Alex Bregman to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night has Boston Red Sox Nation sounding a lot like Mets fans.

Some of it is justified. The Red Sox aren’t spending on players, their two biggest moves being the addition of salaries belonging to Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras via trade. They’re one of the highest revenue teams but also spend one of the lowest percentages of what they earn. Who’d have thought a guy who spent one year in New England could break those fans’ hearts so badly?

The Mets and Red Sox have a lot in common and the fan reaction is one of them

The Craig Breslow-led Red Sox have a lot in common with David Stearns’ version of the Mets. They’ve swapped multiple players, targeted some of the same, and operated in a somewhat similar manner. On small scales, both front offices have believed in Robert Stock. On a grander outlook, they’ve been matches for short-term deals with star free agents, the Mets re-signing Pete Alonso last offseason and the Red Sox taking a chance on Bregman.

Upon the Bregman signing, the Red Sox are the last team without a major league contract signed this offseason. The Colorado Rockies removed themselves from the list when they added Michael Lorenzen earlier in the week. Their offseason has been unique and not so dissimilar from the Mets. Ironically, their two biggest moves were ones that could’ve conceptually fit the Mets.

Contreras could have been the Mets’ answer to losing Alonso. The Gray trade would have given the rotation a new look. We can’t fault the Mets for passing on either of those two opportunities, specifically the Gray addition because of how miserable he pitched with the New York Yankees.

Nevertheless, both fanbases have been left wanting much, much more. The Red Sox made the postseason but were bounced out in the first round with just one playoff win. On the heels of trading away Rafael Devers and the lingering effects of ownership's reluctance to pay Mookie Betts several years ago in a trade that has aged like neon pastel leggings, we can’t blame our Red Sox fan brothers and sisters for feeling unenthusiastic about what the Red Sox have done.

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