Brown basically closed the door on a potential Bregman return, while throwing Scott Boras squarely under the bus.

The writing is on the wall that Alex Bregman's time with the Houston Astros is over.Following the reported contract offer that was extended by the front office and put on the shelf by Bregman and his agent Scott Boras, things really were at a stalemate regarding how much money the franchise was willing to offer their superstar third baseman.In the meantime, the Astros didn't wait around to get into a negotiating war.They flipped Kyle Tucker and his expiring contract to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for 2024 All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes, versatile pitcher Hayden Wesneski and star prospect Cam Smith.While that deal seemed to signal Houston's willingness to let Bregman walk, it wasn't until they tried to acquire Nolan Arenado that things started to become more clear that this marriage might be over.Arenado used his no-trade clause to veto this deal, but that only saw the Astros pivot to bringing in first baseman Christian Walker instead of going back to the negotiating table with Bregman.Because of that, the two-time World Series champion will likely be playing next year, and the remainder of his career, with a different team.Professional sports is a business.Both the player and franchise are looking to make the best decisions for themselves in a financial and competitive aspect.That's largely understood, and perhaps nobody has operated in that manner more than Boras, but when it came to how Houston handled things with his client Bregman, the super agent didn't seem to agree with how it went down."Over time, teams learn if you're running from leadership and talent, you're running from the ultimate goal," Boras said per Chandler Rome of The Athletic.Based on how everything is about money when it comes to Boras and his negotiations, Astros general manager Dana Brown probably had a good laugh to himself and with the rest of the front office hearing those comments.This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/astros as Scott Boras Rips Houston Astros Over Their Handling of Alex Bregman's Free Agency.