If Houston wants to return one of its best players, the front office must show him they’re willing to do whatever it takes to agree on a long-term contract.

Outside of Bregman wanting $200-plus million, there isn’t much of a reason for the Astros not to re-sign him. There should be reason to believe he’d take a contract below that, especially with Houston, considering he’s spent his entire career with the organization.

There’s always a scenario, too, where another team would be willing to give him the $200 million he might be seeking. At this point, there have been conflicting reports on what type of money he’s looking at.

Some have suggested that Bregman wants to be paid like the top third baseman in Major League Baseball, while others have noted that a $150 million deal is more likely.

There will be competition for the Astros, including from the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies have made Alec Bohm available, and if they were to trade him, poaching Bregman from Houston would be the logical thing to do.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report believes that will be the case, predicting Bregman will sign a six-year, $156 million deal with Philadelphia.

“Third baseman Alex Bregman just wrapped up a five-year, $100 million extension with the Houston Astros by posting his sixth 4-WAR season in nine years in the big leagues, and he has racked up 39.6 WAR total in his career while helping the team win a pair of World Series titles. A reunion with the Astros is still a possibility, but now that he has reached the open market there is a long list of potential landing spots.”

Unlike Houston, the Phillies have shown the willingness to spend as much as needed to build a World Series team. That hasn’t worked out for Philadelphia like it has for the Astros, as they haven’t reached the top of the baseball world just yet, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Phillies front office is willing to spend money.

The longer this goes on, the better the chances of Bregman leaving the organization.