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Detroit Tigers 'got to focus on here,' but letting go of Alex Bregman isn't easy
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- Detroit Tigers 'got to focus on here,' but letting go of Alex Bregman isn't easy
LAKELAND, Fla. — It's time to turn the page.
The Alex Bregman saga, drawn out for three months, concluded Wednesday night with the Boston Red Sox as winners and the Detroit Tigers as losers. The Tigers offered the most years and the most total value, but the Red Sox won Bregman's signature with three years, $120 million, $40 million per season, and opt-out clauses after the first and second seasons.
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Bregman wanted seven years, $200 million.
The Tigers never entertained $200 million but made a competitive long-term offer: six years, $171.5 million with an opt-out clause after the second season .
"To even make that attempt," Tigers third baseman Matt Vierling said Thursday afternoon, "putting that offer out there for him, for the fanbase that's got to show you that the team, they're trying. That's all you can ask for."
WHAT HAPPENED: Alex Bregman signs with Red Sox. Inside the deal
Houston Astros' Alex Bregman talks with manager A.J. Hinch in the dugout during the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field July 1, 2018 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Manager A.J. Hinch , who managed Bregman from 2016-19 with the Houston Astros , wants the focus to shift to the 58 players in spring training with the Tigers, which includes Vierling and fellow third baseman Jace Jung . There are eight days until the first spring training game and 41 days until the first regular season game.
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Don't be surprised if Jung emerges as the starting third baseman .
"I think it's really important to see what's going on here and the work our guys have put in and the team that we have," Hinch said Thursday morning. "For what we need to accomplish, we got to focus on here. We have a really good group, and we move forward. It is what it is."
In reality, it's hard not to think about Bregman.
With Bregman, the Tigers would have been World Series contenders . Without Bregman, the Tigers are one of several teams with similar odds to win the American League Central .
That's the difference.
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Just ask reliever Alex Lange , who was teammates with Bregman in college at LSU.
"Before I played with Miguel Cabrera , he's probably the best player I've ever played with," Lange said Thursday morning. "His intuition for the game and everything like that is second to none.
"It would've been nice to have him, but we got a pretty good third baseman in Vierling, so I'm excited that he's going to be taking the ball over there."
Remember how Bregman wanted seven years, $200 million at the beginning of the offseason?
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The two-time All-Star third baseman still has a clear pathway to unlocking $200 million, as long as he parlays the three-year, $120 million contract from 2025-27 (ages 31-33) into at least a four-year, $80 million contract from 2028-31 (ages 34-37). Even if Bregman earns just $51.6 million after the $120 million, that is more than the total value of the Tigers' offer at $171.5 million.
It's clear Bregman — represented by agent Scott Boras — is the biggest winner of all for turning down the Tigers (and Chicago Cubs ) and choosing the Red Sox.
ROSTER PREDICTION 3.0: Searching for answers for Tigers without Alex Bregman
His almost-teammate seems to thinks so.
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"That's a ton of money," Vierling said. "I love seeing guys get paid. Anytime a guy gets that amount of money, more power to him. I don't know him at all, but I bet he's extremely happy with that amount of money."
His former teammate agrees.
"I'm happy to see him get his money," Lange said. "I wish it would've been with us, but we'll see down the road."
This offseason, the Tigers showed interest but passed on free-agent right-handed hitters Anthony Santander (five years, $92.5 million to the Toronto Blue Jays ), Christian Walker (three years, $60 million to the Astros) and Ha-Seong Kim (two years, $29 million to the Tampa Bay Rays ), waiting for Bregman's market to unfold.
San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (7) tracks a groundball in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
Then Bregman passed on the Tigers.
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Not signing any of those right-handed hitters leaves the Tigers without an improved offense and too many left-handed hitters — both problems coming into the offseason.
In 2024, the Tigers' offense ranked 24th in MLB with a .685 OPS. To get better, the Tigers swapped struggling slugger Spencer Torkelson (and his .669 OPS) for free-agent Gleyber Torres (and his .709 OPS) in the everyday lineup, without any other additions.
The Tigers also don't have enough impact right-handed hitters — only Vierling and Torres — to protect key left-handed hitters Jung, Parker Meadows , Riley Greene , Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith . A wipeout left-handed starter like Red Sox lefty Garrett Crochet projects to annihilate the Tigers' current lineup.
"We got to actually choose the roster before I know whether we're too right-handed or too left-handed, or anywhere in the middle," Hinch said. "We'll be drilling a lot of those scenarios. As it shapes over the next month and a half, we'll obviously address our strengths and weaknesses."
Houston Astros third base Alex Bregman hits a single against the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the wild-card round in the MLB playoffs at Minute Maid Park, Oct. 1, 2024 in Houston.
Bregman would have given the Tigers exactly what they needed, as would've Santander, Walker and Kim. Other solutions existed on the trade market, most notably Jake Burger (traded from the Miami Marlins to Texas Rangers ).
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It's time to move on from Bregman.
But that's easier said than done.
Especially when you know what could've been.
"We're trying to win here," Lange said. "I like the guys in this clubhouse. I think A.J. once said, 'If you're not with us, you're against us,' or something like that. We'll see him when we get to Fenway."
THURSDAY'S OBSERVATIONS: Who's on third base in camp after Alex Bregman to Red Sox?
Actually, Bregman will see the Tigers when the Red Sox come to Comerica Park from May 12-14 for a three-game series in Detroit. The Tigers don't play in Boston until Sept. 26-28, the final three games of the regular season.
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So the Tigers will get the Bregman experience for six games.
Not 162 games.
"We knew he fit great with us," Vierling said, "so we were all interested to see if he was going to be with us and anticipating what he was going to do. Now that he's decided, we're just going to keep carrying on. For me, just be ready for third base and outfield and all that stuff."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers letting go of Alex Bregman isn't easy
