The Detroit Tigers made an aggressive but unsuccessful push to sign free agent third baseman Alex Bregman. Despite missing out on him, however, Tigers president Scott Harris clearly is not losing sleep over the rejection.
Harris addressed reporters Friday regarding Bregman’s decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox instead of Detroit. The team president admitted that the Tigers made a “very compelling offer” to Bregman, but knew there was a risk that the infielder might land elsewhere. Ultimately, Harris said the Tigers “want players who want to be here,” and capped off his comments with a strong statement of confidence.
“We’re going to be just fine without Alex Bregman, and we still have a clubhouse that just got to the postseason and just beat a team with Alex Bregman, so it clearly can be done,” Harris said.
The Tigers did beat the Houston Astros in the AL Wild Card series last October. Detroit won two straight games in Houston for a sweep, with Bregman going 3-for-8 over the two games.
Reports indicate that the Tigers made a very competitive offer for Bregman. In fact, their offer was arguably the best overall if Bregman was looking for long-term security. Boston offered a shorter deal worth a lot more money, which was enough to get the veteran to sign with them.
The Tigers had shored up their pitching earlier in the offseason, though infielder Gleyber Torres is their only notable admission on the position player side of things. That remains a concern for them going into the season, but they are clearly not lacking in confidence that they can get back to the playoffs without Bregman in the fold.
