Saturday, February 22

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Now teammates for the first time as Major Leaguers with the Boston Red Sox, Walker Buehler and Alex Bregman already had their own team outside the ballfield. And they still do.

They share a 4-year-old colt that races with the name March of Time.

There was much excitement on Dec. 27 when March of Time won the Santa Anita.

As the winning horse crossed the finish line, Buehler was at Boston’s Logan Airport having just completed the physical that ultimately made his contract with the Red Sox official. A phone call ensued with Bregman, as the two men congratulated each other on March of Time’s first win.

“He won his first start. We were all so excited, it was a lot of fun,” said Bregman, who joined forces with Buehler on the Red Sox last week on a three-year, $120-million contract.

In the future, when their horse races during baseball season, it’s easy to envision that Bregman and Buehler will be huddled next to each other on a tablet watching in real time.

“We typically call right before or call right after a race. Now we can just watch it in [in the clubhouse],” Buehler said.

A couple of weeks ago, their horse placed third in a different competition.

Which race is up next?

“We were talking about that yesterday,” Bregman said. “We don’t know yet, but nothing yet. Something soon.”

So how did this friendship -- and horse racing team -- form among players who have both had impressive careers, winning two World Series titles each?

First, the friendship.

“We’ve just known each other and played together a long time,” Buehler said. “Played on Team USA together in 2014 for about a week and stayed in touch and even going through the Draft and kind of getting to the big leagues and all that stuff.”

Their Team USA experience took them to Cuba in that summer of 2014. They both played for high-profile colleges -- Bregman for LSU and Buehler with Vanderbilt. In ’15, Bregman was the second pick in the Draft while Buehler also went in the first round at No. 24.

Until this year, they had both spent their entire careers with one franchise -- Bregman in Houston and Buehler with the Dodgers.

Free agency has reunited them with Boston, where the duo hope a third World Series title is in store.

Given that Buehler lives in Lexington, Ky., which is just over an hour from Churchill Downs, it isn’t surprising the righty is into the races.

Buehler is also well connected in the horse racing industry, as Hall of Famer Bob Baffert -- the legend of that sport -- is March of Time’s trainer.

“Baffert and I are really good buddies and he told me he liked this horse,” said Buehler.

So Buehler bought the horse with a friend, then reached out to Bregman and sold a quarter stake to him.

“He asked me if I wanted to be involved with it and I said, ‘Sure it would be fun,’” recounted Bregman.

It isn’t hard to figure out why Buehler reached out to Bregman.

In 2022, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reported that Bregman owned eight racehorses under the umbrella of Bregman Family Racing.

“Baseball and horses have always been in the Bregmans' blood,” Sam Bregman, Alex’s father, told McTaggart. “We’ve had a blast in both sports. We love it and I know that he’s loved it as well. Buy them? That was a little bit of a jump into it. That’s certainly next-level stuff. But if anyone is a good study and someone who really looks at everything involved in this particular sport and figures things out, it’s Alex.”

Now, Bregman has a kindred spirit within the confines of his own clubhouse in Buehler.

You can be sure they’ll find a way to rewind the Kentucky Derby, which will likely occur in the late innings of Boston’s home game against the Twins on May 3.

In terms of knowledge about the sport, Buehler gives the nod to Bregman for now.

“Breg’s super deep into it, so I’ve got to play a little catchup,” said Buehler. 

• According to agent Scott Boras, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was the definition of persistent when it came to these negotiations, making it clear Bregman was target No. 1 all along in the team’s quest for a right-handed bat.

“I was talking to Brez last night, and I think he told me he had 77 appearances in a season one time. That’s pretty remarkable. Well, I think he may have led in GM phone calls to me, and it might have been 14 or 15 of them, persistent discussions and talk,” said Boras.

• Though Dustin Pedroia doesn’t have an official title with the Red Sox, you can add "recruiter" to his list of duties.

“Yeah, my favorite player, Dustin Pedroia did [reach out],” Bregman said. “He reached out a few times this offseason and talked to me about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox.”

• According to multiple reports, Bregman’s contract has significant deferrals that bring the present-day value of the contract down to roughly $90 million. The contract calls for $20 million to be deferred each season, and payable starting in 10 years. As a compromise, the Red Sox agreed to opt-outs following the 2025 and ’26 seasons.

“Deferrals are not exactly in my playbook,” quipped Boras. “But certainly, it’s a present part of the game. You have metrics. You do evaluations. You try to come to teams and listen and look at things, but in the end you try and figure out a formula [that] maybe allows them for what they need and provides us with present value that is appropriate for the player.”

With the services of Bregman at last secured, fans are undoubtedly getting the itch to get to Fenway this summer. Last week, single-game tickets went on sale at redsox.com/tickets for all home games from June 2-27.

That block of games includes the first visit to Boston from the defending American League champion Yankees from June 13-15, and the defending World Series champion Dodgers from July 25-27.

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