LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers missed out on third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency.
Bregman, who turns 31 in late March, has signed a three-year, $120 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, multiple people with knowledge of the agreement told the Free Press on Wednesday night, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet official. The contract with the Red Sox includes an opt-out clause after the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
The Tigers — led by president of baseball operations Scott Harris — made a competitive offer to Bregman: six-year contract worth $171.5 million (with some deferred money) and an opt-out clause after the 2026 season.
Bregman picked the Red Sox over the Tigers.
The biggest difference between the Tigers and Red Sox?
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The Tigers offered $28.58 million per season over six years, whereas the Red Sox offered $40 million per season over three years. The Tigers included an opt-out clause after the 2026 season, whereas the Red Sox included an opt-out clause after the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
By picking the Red Sox, Bregman gets $40 million this season (more than the $30.5 million he made last season) and gets to test the free-agent market again next offseason.
Without Bregman, the Tigers have clubhouse leader Matt Vierling, a right-handed hitter, and prospect Jace Jung, a left-handed hitter, as the projected third basemen as spring training gets underway, with 43 days until Opening Day.
Vierling, 28, has started 74 games at third base in his 443-game MLB career, spanning four seasons; Jung, 24, is a below-average defender at third base with high upside on offense.
“We’d love to have him and everything like that,” Vierling said Wednesday morning, when asked about the Bregman sweepstakes. “I’m preparing to play third base, and then if we get him, I’ll obviously change.”
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Bregman is one of the best all-around players in baseball.
The Tigers, Cubs and Red Sox were the finalists to sign him, with the Cubs offering four years, $120 million and opt-out clauses after the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays had interest but were not in the mix at the end.
Bregman, a two-time All-Star, hit .260 with 26 home runs, 44 walks and 86 strikeouts across 145 games for the Astros in the 2024 season. He has averaged 25 homers and 154 games over the past three seasons, posting a .798 OPS. He makes smart swing decisions, puts the ball in play at an elite rate, limits strikeouts and draws walks.
The two-time World Series champion spent the first nine years of his MLB career with the Astros, from 2016-24.
“We’ve had numerous talks with teams and owners,” Scott Boras, Bregman’s agent, said Dec. 11 at MLB’s Winter Meetings, “and we all know what comes after an A (Alex) and a B (Bregman) is a C — champion. And in Bregman’s case, that’s C-squared. All of these teams realize what a leader he is and what a champion he is, plus his skill level. He’s very much in demand.”
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Bregman has close relationships with two people in the Tigers’ organization: manager A.J. Hinch and bullpen catcher Chris Chinea. Hinch managed Bregman from 2016-19 with the Astros, winning the World Series together in 2017; Chinea was Bregman’s college teammate at LSU from 2013-15, as well as his roommate for two of those years.
Those relationships with employees of the Tigers weren’t enough to pry Bregman away from the $40 million average annual value from the Red Sox.
“I’ve largely stayed away from talking about it because he’s not here,” Hinch said Wednesday morning, when asked directly about Bregman’s free agency. “I’ve tried not to go into the public relations banter on trying to recruit him here. But he can help any major league team. Time will tell where that is and what he chooses. Special guy.”
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Bregman is projected by FanGraphs to be worth 4.0 fWAR in the 2025 season, which would be his fourth consecutive year with at least 4.0 fWAR.
His 14 fWAR from 2022-24 ranked 18th among 230 qualified position players, ahead of fellow third basemen Austin Riley (13.3 fWAR), Nolan Arenado (13.1 fWAR), Rafael Devers (12.5 fWAR) and Matt Chapman (12.3 fWAR), trailing only Manny Machado (14.1 fWAR) and José Ramírez (17.1 fWAR).
Meanwhile, the Tigers have just two position players projected for more than 3.0 fWAR in 2025: left fielder
(4.2 fWAR) and second baseman Gleyber Torres (3.0 fWAR).
Not only would Bregman have improved the Tigers’ offense, but his veteran presence would’ve provided valuable leadership to younger players, especially as the Tigers seek to win the World Series for the first time since 1984.
It’s a big miss for the Tigers.
But the Tigers made a competitive offer to Bregman.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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