Alex Bregman’s presence as the right player at the right time sets the tone

MESA, Ariz. — By the relaxed standards of spring training, the Chicago Cubs were on edge last year. Jed Hoyer, Chicago’s president of baseball operations, was working on an expiring contract. Craig Counsell, the sport’s highest-paid manager, had guided the club to the same 83-79 record that got David Ross fired. And an ideal addition, Alex Bregman, rejected an offer that fell short in all the ways that free agents keep score.

Mostly, it was business as usual for a big-market team that struggled to find an identity after the 2016 World Series and refused to call it a rebuild after breaking up that championship core. Club officials faced persistent questions about why the major-league payroll didn’t match the investments made by other franchises.

Enter Bregman, who exercised his opt-out clause to leave the Boston Red Sox and signed a five-year, $175 million contract with the Cubs in January, quickly endearing himself to Chicago sports fans by attending Bulls, Bears and Blackhawks games.

To fully live up to that deal, the All-Star third baseman will have to produce on the field. But the Cubs, an organization that leans heavily on statistical models, still expect to get intangible value from Bregman.

It’s reinforcing the messaging from the coaching staff and maintaining standards in the clubhouse. It’s creating a buffer for the ownership group and business operations department. It’s the sense of purpose from a player wearing a No. 3 jersey because he’s chasing his third World Series ring.

Halfway through this training camp, the Cubs still have largely the same group of players and coaches from last season, plus Bregman and a deeper pitching staff. But the group has a different outlook, a higher level of expectations and a noticeable lack of drama.

“Does it feel boring?” Jameson Taillon said. “It is, maybe, a little, in a good way.”

The Cubs played so well in the first half last season that Hoyer earned a contract extension that stabilized the front office. The Milwaukee Brewers never collapsed once Counsell left, but the manager put his imprint on a well-rounded Cubs team that won 92 games and a playoff round.

The electric atmosphere at Wrigley Field last October helped motivate the club to spend around $230 million on free agents. And the Cubs didn’t wait until after the start of spring training before making their biggest move.

“You have a lot less storylines,” Cubs outfielder Ian Happ said.

Indeed, the Bregman saga hovered over training camp last year, when Hoyer made it clear that the budget for baseball operations did not have the flexibility to match the average annual value of Boston’s three-year, $120 million structure. Nor did he have the authorization to go longer than a four-year term with an offer valued at $115 million, according to league sources.

At that time, the Cubs were also philosophically against using a large amount of deferred money to finance the deal, a mechanism that helped the Red Sox land Bregman last year. To close this deal, the Cubs dressed up their offer with $70 million worth of deferred payments.

“It’s the evolution of the org over the past few years,” said Dansby Swanson, the Gold Glove shortstop who signed a seven-year, $177 million contract with the Cubs after the 2022 season.

“It’s more boring because our team’s pretty set. But that’s also the thing that brings the most energy because it’s like, ‘Hey, this is what we got. This is what we are.’

“You know when you’re a kid and you feel like you’re getting a certain something for your birthday or Christmas, and you get super excited? And then you don’t get it, and you get super upset. Sometimes, it’s nice not even being exposed to it. You don’t know what to be excited about.

“You know how it is. Once you create a certain expectation, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re going to …’ or ‘If we do this, we’re going to be…’”

Camp Counsell, thus far, has met Bregman’s expectations. Culture shock isn’t part of it when a baseball gym rat joins a like-minded group of players. He already has a home and his own training facility near the team’s Arizona complex. He did his homework on the Cubs organization.

“Communication’s been awesome,” Bregman said. “Attention to detail has been outstanding. I feel like it’s been very smooth and organized.

“Nothing really surprised me because I’ve admired the way this team played from afar for a long time. I had a great respect for everyone in the room.”

Bregman is now off with Team USA for the World Baseball Classic. When he returns to Mesa for the end of spring training, he won’t face the contract questions that followed Kyle Tucker last season or wonder whether the Cubs have built an operation that’s strong enough to make the playoffs.

Bregman’s time in Boston — plus years with the Houston Astros when they were the sport’s villains — prepared him for the Wrigleyville experience and the responsibilities that come with being a face of the franchise.

The Cubs spent so much time thinking about how Bregman would fit — as a right-handed hitter in their lineup, on the left side of a Gold Glove infield and in the dugout as a leader — that the transition appears to be seamless.

This will always be a prove-it business, but the Cubs absolutely believe they’re good enough to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers and play until the end of October.

“I feel like our team’s in a really good place right now,” Bregman said. “Guys are focused and locked in, ready for the season, preparing every day. It’s a great group. I’m very excited. It’s going to be a fun year.”