Red Sox Just Days From Alex Bregman, Trevor Story Decisions
The World Series ended on Saturday night and now the offseason is officially here for Major League Baseball.
We won't see anything crazy happen right away like a blockbuster trade or likely a nine-figure signing in free agency, but there will be some news involving the Boston Red Sox fairly quickly. With the World Series now over, the option deadline is imminent. It passes five days after the World Series ends.
For Boston, this is significant because guys like Alex Bregman, Trevor Story, and Lucas Giolito have options to watch out for. Liam Hendriks also has a mutual option, and Jarren Duran has a club option, but he isn't going anywhere -- barring a trade, of course -- because he is arbitration-eligible.
It's going to be a busy few days for the Red Sox
Hendriks has a $12 million mutual option that is sure to be declined after making just 14 appearances in 2025. The three really worth watching are Bregman, Story, and Giolito. For Bregman, reports have been out there for weeks that he plans to opt out of his three-year, $120 million deal and enter free agency. He hasn't officially opted out yet, though. That will come over the next few days. Then, he will be a free agent and have a chance to go anywhere.
Gioltio has a $19 million mutual option because he was able to pitch more than 140 innings in 2025. His future is at least somewhat up in the air because he dealt with an elbow issue that forced him to miss the playoffs. If the Red Sox are going to give anyone the qualifying offer worth just over $22 million for the 2026 season, Giolito would make sense.
Story is the most interesting decision to actually watch out for because it isn't as guaranteed. He is coming off the best season of his career since 2021. But, he had three injury-filled seasons in Boston as well. Does he enter the open market looking for a new deal with the hope that the 2025 season will help him cash in? Or take the guaranteed $50 million over the next two years plus a club option in 2028? We will find out very soon.
With the World Series behind us now, the clock is ticking for Boston.
Eagles Climb To Top Of NFC Ladder Without Playing A Game
PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles didn’t have to play a game on Sunday, and they still climbed the ladder in the NFC. If the season ended today, they would be the top seed in the NFC playoffs. Of course, the season doesn’t end today.
It has, however, reached the halfway point. They will enter Week 9 leading the pack at 6-2. It is the fourth straight season the Eagles started 6-2 or better, and if they go on to earn the No. 1 seed, it would be their third in four years.
The Bucs are also 6-2, but the Eagles beat them, so they own the tiebreaker. The Rams won to get to 6-2, but the Eagles beat them already, too. The Seahawks can reach 6-2 by beating the Commanders in Washington on Sunday Night Football, but the Eagles have a better conference record than Seattle.
If the Eagles want to send a couple of thank you’s after getting help in their ascension to the top rung, they can start with the Panthers and Rico Dowdle and Ryan Fitzgerald.
It was Fitzgerald who kicked a 49-yard field goal as time expired for a 16-13 win over the Packers at Lambeau Field. Dowdle ran for a 130 yards against the Packers’ third-ranked run defense.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni surveys practice. / John McMullen/Eagles On SI
So, the Packers are now 5-2-1 with the Eagles scheduled to visit Lambeau next Monday night, and presumably an angry group, losing despite being favored by 13.5 points.
As for the Eagles, it will have been 16 days since they last played a game, but they are 4-0 under head coach Nick Sirianni exiting a bye.
“The bye week process, we just continue to evolve it,” said Sirianni last week. “But I think that to say, ‘Hey, here's what I've learned in my past four years here,’ it really goes back, ‘What have I learned in my time in the NFL in these bye weeks?’
“That's why you're just constantly in this growth mindset of how you can get better at your process. I think that's been an evolving thing. Obviously these last four, five years, I've been the head coach, so obviously there's more to it than when I was just the offensive coordinator. But I think that the process of our bye week has evolved throughout the years from the past 10 years of my coaching career.
“I think human nature could be, ‘Hey, we don't have a game this week,’ and have a tendency to relax. That's just not the way we think and that's just not the way we're about to go about our business. This week will be about finding ways to get better, identifying issues that we know we have, identifying strengths that we know we have, and tendencies, and looking for ways to improve on those things.”
After sending a thank you to Carolina, fire one out to Minnesota for the Vikings upsetting the Lions at Ford Field, 27-24. That loss left Detroit at 5-3. The Vikings appeared to be in shambles, but their defense showed up, sacking Jared Goff five times and punishing the Lions on the ground with 142 yards rushing as a team.
The Eagles will play the Lions on Sunday Night Football on Nov. 16, six days after going to Green Bay.
