Bregman rumors dominate start of Tigers camp; Cobb out a month after injection

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Not only did the Tigers have their full group of pitchers and catchers in camp Wednesday morning for first official workout, they had many of their position players, even though full-squad workouts don¡¯t begin until Monday.

The one position player many wanted to ask manager A.J. Hinch about, however, isn¡¯t in camp yet -- not with the Tigers, not anywhere. Whether free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman ends up a Tiger remains to be seen, but he was a hot topic.

¡°It¡¯s hard to talk about,¡± Hinch said. ¡°And I get asked about it on airplanes, in restaurants, walking down the street. I live in Houston in the offseason, so you can imagine how that¡¯s gone.¡±

Bregman and then-Astros manager Hinch won a World Series together in 2017 and returned to the Fall Classic in 2019. In some ways, it¡¯s a similar situation to three years ago, when former Astros shortstop Carlos Correa hit free agency -- but the Bregman free-agent saga has gone on longer. The Tigers have been linked to Bregman since before the Winter Meetings.

¡°Obviously, he¡¯s a very talented player, very impactful player and someone close to my heart,¡± Hinch said. ¡°I mean, this is a guy who I¡¯m really close with, so I¡¯ve largely stayed away from talking about it because he¡¯s not here. And I¡¯ve tried not to go with that public relations banter and trying to recruit him here.

¡°But he can help any Major League team. And time will tell where that is and what he chooses, but [he's a] special guy.¡±

Hinch talked about doing his best with his coaches to keep players focused on the task at hand rather than a potential signing. Many have been through this before; Detroit signed Gio Urshela last year a week into camp, transitioning Matt Vierling from a primary third baseman into a third baseman/outfielder.

¡°I¡¯ve been working everywhere,¡± Vierling said of his work this offseason. ¡°I¡¯ve been taking a lot of ground balls at third base just preparing for that. I know there¡¯s Bregman and all that swirling around, so I¡¯m just prepared for anything. He¡¯s an amazing player. I¡¯m just working hard at third base, and if he signs, then I¡¯ll just mix around a little more. Just be ready for anything, and that¡¯s totally OK with me.¡±

If the saga has players on edge, it didn¡¯t show in the usually loose Tigers clubhouse. One player noted it as a positive in any aspect to have a player of Bregman¡¯s caliber considering Detroit, and a sign of how the team has progressed.

Cobb out after hip injection
Right-hander Alex Cobb, who was penciled into the rotation after signing as a free agent in December, will have to wait for his Tigers debut. The 37-year-old veteran received a platelet-rich plasma injection to address inflammation in his right hip.

Cobb, who missed much of last season following left hip surgery, reported feeling discomfort last week after a bullpen session.

¡°We decided that the best course of action was to get him checked out and get the injection,¡± Hinch said. ¡°What comes with that injection is [he¡¯s] trending to be about a month late.¡±

In other words, Cobb should get back to this point in his program in approximately one month. He would then go through the equivalent of Spring Training, which would not give him enough time to be ready for the start of the regular season.

The injury means the Tigers have two rotation spots open this spring behind Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty and Reese Olson. The contenders for those openings appear to be MLB Pipeline's No. 5 overall prospect Jackson Jobe, Casey Mize, Kenta Maeda, Keider Montero, Matt Manning, Ty Madden and Brant Hurter.

B¨¢ez should be ready
Javier B¨¢ez, who had right hip surgery in the fall, is progressing well in his rehab and is on track to be ready for game action later this spring. He¡¯s doing full hitting and defensive drills and will pick up his running progression -- the last obstacle to being fully ready -- when he arrives in camp.

¡°He¡¯s had a great offseason,¡± Hinch said. ¡°We¡¯ve flown people down to Puerto Rico. He¡¯s been over here in Lakeland attacking his rehab, and we¡¯ll see him later this week when he comes back and get a plan in place.

¡° ... We expect him to be full go at some point in the spring, which is great news. But until we get him in front of us, I don¡¯t have an exact date yet.¡±