Which Ron?

In signing Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million deal, the Cubs are betting they’ll get more Ron Cey than Ron Santo. We’ll see. Bregman turns 32 on March 30. Jed Hoyer obviously thinks, hopes, his new third baseman can put up big numbers through year five. That’s where it gets interesting. Once Santo hit age 32, he managed two more good seasons before hitting the wall at age 34 (with the White Sox, of course). If the same thing happens with Bregman, that turns into $105 million tossed out the window. On the other hand, Bregman as Cey would be a good thing, at least offensively. Cey kept hitting through age 37 and was decent at age 38 (.273 BA with thirteen homeruns and 36 RBIs in 256 AB). Cey was no Santo at third, but he played well enough at a time when the NL had no dh that he wasn’t traded to the AL or shifted to first base. That qualifies as somewhere between faint and high praise. Like I said, we’ll see.