I’m gonna get a lot of downvotes, but hear me out.

I love you Breggy, but I'm probably one of very, very few people who don't mind if Bregman leaves for more money and/or years. I want to show you some numbers that you don't see talked about, bc it's not a real Sabermetric that I know of. These are (runs scored + RBIs)/ABs. So % of the time that these guys are a part of a run scoring whenever they step up to the plate. (I did not have a way to remove any runs scored as a pinch runner, but I believe Dezenzo had one against the Tigers in the wild card.) I don't like using college numbers, but they seemed important given how little major league experience Dezenzo has, and how close these guy's numbers were. It surprised me. These guys are two completely different types of batters, but have played neck and neck during their respective early careers. Dezenzo strikes out a lot. But he also puts the ball in play a lot. He doesn't walk as much as Bregman, which is kind of a given. He's probably not going to win a gold glove, and you shouldn't expect anyone to outplay Bregman at third, especially a rookie. All that said, their slash lines from college and the minors are extremely similar. Their lifetime OPS coming up through college and the minors are extremely similar. Bregman defensively wins at 3b fielding %, but that's to be expected. The fact that he just won his first gold glove feels criminal to those of us who have watched his entire MLB career. That said, Dezenzo is very serviceable at both third and first, although he's played 3x as many innings at third in his career than he has at first. I think more people should dig through both players' stats, because I truly believe that Dezenzo is better than you think he is, and that #5 prospect tag was well deserved. His production at the plate is just a vastly different style than Bregman's, and corresponds with the direction baseball has been trending over the past few years. Bregman started his career 2 for 38, so remember to give the new guy a little bit of grace for his limited time and .242 avg last year. I would give him his rookie year at third base and pay Tucker when the time comes.