"Alex Bregman plays for 12 more years" - Ex-Twins star favors LSU alumnus over Pete Alonso as the better free agent option

While most of the early offseason is headlined by Juan Soto's free agency, third baseman Alex Bregman and first baseman Pete Alonso are also generating heavy interest in their respective positions.

Both players are coming off successful stints. While Alonso was a home run machine for the New York Mets, Bregman contributed both offensively and defensively for the Houston Astros. Both reportedly seek a long-term term contract in the range of six years with more than $150 million in value.

In Episode No. 929 of "Talkin' Baseball," host Wake n' Jake asked former Minnesota Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe on who would he rather have between Alonso and Bregman.

Plouffe acknowledged Alonso's game-changing power as desirable but he feels what LSU alumni Bregman does on a premium defensive position counts more. Also, he has potentially more years left than Alonso.

"If you give me a chance to have a ballplayer who can do it on both sides, at most likely a premium position, you know, third base or second base, and shown the ability to play Gold Glove defense there—the offense is not too far apart in my opinion," Plouffe said (4:50 onwards). "Yeah, the slug is going to go to Pete, but Breggy is obviously a very offensive-minded player as well."

"If it's team-dependent, that could change, but if you tell me a blank canvas to start with—we've talked about this before, and we mentioned this last episode—Bregman's going to be a guy who plays for 12 more years. He's just going to be there. I like Bregman in this scenario," he added.

Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso join 10 others to decline qualifying offer

MLB teams are allowed to render qualifying offers to their recently turned free agents. The salary for the same is the mean of the league's top 125 highest-paid players. This year the number for the same was $21.05 million for one year.

Among all 12 eligible players the respective teams offered, only Nick Martinez decided to sign. This way he'll remain with the Cincinnati Reds for one more year.

Alex Bregman, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Corbin Burnes, Willy Adames and Max Fried were among the 12 big names who declined the offer to test their value in the free agent market.