Alex Bregman Landing With The Tigers Would Be Great For Baseball
Major League Baseball needs more teams to be competitive both on the field and in the free agency market...
Hot Stove season has been somewhat of a slow burn over the holiday season, despite the fact that there are still a number of big names twisting out in the wind.
Arguably the biggest name still available on the open market is Alex Bregman, the two-time All-Star who has built a career on winning at the highest level.
There has been strong interest in the former Houston Astros third baseman all winter. But, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Tigers and the Blue Jays are the two teams “most likely” to win the Bregman sweepstakes this offseason.
Now, in the interest of balance, it is worth noting that The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, speaking on Foul Territory, doesn’t expect the Tigers to spend the big bucks on Bregman. Rosenthal’s argument was that the Detroit front office has been financially prudent when handing out contracts in free agency in recent years. My response to that would be things change, and the front office may be more inclined to give a big contract to the right player now they have a winning baseball team again. Plus, given that we’re deep in the heart of the offseason, maybe Bregman would be more inclined at this point to sign a shorter-term deal with a team in order to drive up his value before hitting free agency again next year.
Anyway, let’s operate on the basis that Heyman’s report has some real juice - and there’s no reason to think Heyman is wrong - and focus on the possibility that Bregman does end up signing with the Tigers.
If that were to happen, then not only would it be a gargantuan statement of intent from Detroit, but it would be an incredibly positive development for Major League Baseball.
The reasoning for why it would be so great for baseball is simple. Detroit is a significant and passionate sports market, one that is enjoying a resurgence right now thanks to the Super Bowl contending Lions in the NFL. Detroit has always been a baseball town, too, and we saw how much passion there is for the Tigers after they made a late run to the playoffs in 2024.
Signing Bregman would help put the Tigers back on the map again, and it would help to ignite interest in a franchise that has been dormant for too long. With Bregman on the roster, coupled with other improvements, you’d figure Detroit would be a playoff team again in 2025. And therein lies the rub. Major League Baseball needs as many competitive teams as possible. What the Tigers accomplished last year in going on a tear and putting together an incredible run to snatch a postseason berth was huge for baseball. Detroit was being talked about by the sports world once more, and all eyes were on the Tigers as they continued to win at an elite clip.
There are too many bad, non-competitive teams in baseball. The White Sox, Rockies and Marlins all figure to stink again in 2025. The Pirates haven’t done anything to make their team better around pitching phenom Paul Skenes. Even the Baltimore Orioles, who are looked upon as a contender now, are in danger of taking a major step backwards this year after losing both Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander while not doing anything to improve the roster around their core of young stars.
Year after year after year we see a slew of teams sit on their butts throughout the offseason, refusing to spend above the absolute minimum. It has led to there being a barren wasteland full of teams that enter the season knowing they aren’t going to be remotely competitive. It’s bad for business, it’s a soul-crushing slap in the face to the fans of those teams, and it’s a humiliating fact of life for the league office. It isn’t fun for anyone when you have a large chunk of the league unwilling to improve or spend any money to be even just average year in and year out. In fact, it can make for a very top-heavy - and not very attractive - product.
Therefore, a team like the Tigers - who have been mired in baseball mediocrity for the best part of a decade now - actually going for it by signing one of the marquee free agents available, would be the kind of boon baseball needs right now. Furthermore, by going all out for a star like Bregman, Detroit would be showing ace Tarik Skubal that the organization is committed to winning. That in turn could convince Skubal - who won the American League Cy Young Award in 2024 - to sign a blockbuster contract of his own and remain with the Tigers for the long haul. After all, teams like Detroit being unable to keep hold of its own homegrown talent isn’t exactly good for baseball. And that could become a problem in Pittsburgh soon with Skenes unless the Pirates can convince their own stud pitcher that they want to enter the winning business over the next couple of years.
Signing Bregman would generate more eyeballs on the Tigers in 2025 and beyond, and they would suddenly morph into a really compelling team to watch throughout the year. Again, that can only be good for business.
Plus, for a team that appeared dead at last year’s trade deadline after dealing RHP Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers, before owning the best record in all of baseball (25-10) between Aug. 11 and Sep. 20. and eventually making the playoffs, signing a proven commodity and a big name in Bregman would be the next logical step for this team’s maturation process. It would be the perfect kind of splash for a team clearly on the rise, and it would be the right message to send to a fanbase - and to the clubhouse - that this is an organization trying to improve and trying to win moving forwards.
And there’s no getting away from the fact that Bregman would instantly make Detroit a better ballclub, too. After all, his credentials speak for themselves. He’s a two-time All-Star who has won both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award, the former of which was won last year. Bregman hit .260/.315/.453/.768 with the Astros in 2024. He’s also incredibly consistent having averaged 25 homers, a 11.1% walk rate, a 12.4% strikeout rate and 154 games per season from 2022-24. If that wasn’t enough, the infielder has recorded at least 90 RBIs in each of his past two seasons.
Sure, Bregman’s power numbers have regressed a little bit over the past couple of years. But he’s an excellent contact hitter who can generate consistent and quality at-bats. Bregman can provide a highly-productive big bat in the middle of the lineup, coupled with Gold Glove caliber defense at third base. There’s also the intangibles too. Bregman has won two World Series titles with Houston, so he knows what it takes to get the job done on the biggest stage. He has racked up 434 plate appearances in the postseason, and he’s proven consistently that he’s a big-time player built to deliver in the biggest moments. That’s exactly the kind of leader and ballplayer you want in a clubhouse for a young team on the come.
Wait, there’s more reasons why this deal makes all the sense in the world for Detroit. As currently constituted, the Tigers’ lineup is very one-dimensional with a ton of left-handed hitters, even after signing former Yankee Gleyber Torres earlier in the offseason. Bregman would add more balance to the lineup, while also lengthening it with his productive bat. You also have to factor in that Bregman and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch worked together in Houston, so there is a pre-existing relationship there. And the importance of that can’t be overstated.
All in all, Bregman is an All-Star caliber player who can offer elite offensive production and stellar defensive play. He has been involved in high-pressure situations and is a highly-respective, incredibly-driven winner. He would be the perfect fit for a team looking to take that next giant leap.
And, perhaps more importantly, Bregman would help make the Detroit Tigers relevant again as they look to build on their first trip to the playoffs since 2014. For a league that just had six teams lose 90 games or more in 2024 - including 101 losses for the Rockies and 124 for the White Sox - having teams like the Tigers be successful in landing top tier free agents can only be a good thing for the sport in the long run.