Dana Brown played this perfectly. 1 year ago he told the media the Astros want to sign Altuve and Bregman for life. They want both players to retire as an Astros. The media runs to both players and asks them about that. BOTH players say how much they love Houston, the fans, the organization, and how they would be honored to retire as an Astros. Dana Brown put them "on the record". BOTH players have Boras as their agent. Only one player told Boras to get a deal done - Altuve signed his contract. Bregman declined his. Who really loves playing for the Astros? Dana Brown won the info/publicity battle. The Astros look great in the fans eyes while Bregman looks terrible/greedy.
Id like to hear David's thoughts on this.
Rumors of Astros increasing their offer are most likely old. The reports dont say "when". Could be that the Astros improved their 6/156m offer back in December. This is Boras leaking old news to get the other teams to "improve their offer."