Tigers' hot corner competition heats up with Bregman off the table

LAKELAND, Fla. -- In the end, the first words from Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris on Jack Flaherty¡¯s return might have been a hint at the last word on Alex Bregman¡¯s potential match with Detroit.

¡°First and foremost, we want players who want to be here,¡± Harris said on Feb. 7 after Flaherty¡¯s two-year contract became official.

The Tigers were connected to Bregman for more than two months. The longer the saga continued without a deal, the more questionable Bregman¡¯s match seemed to become. When Bregman agreed to terms Wednesday night with the Red Sox on a three-year, $120 million deal with two opt-outs, according to MLB.com supervising reporter Mark Feinsand, the saga finally gained closure -- just not the way Detroit might have hoped.

The Tigers offered Bregman a six-year deal worth $171.5 million, according to Feinsand. Bregman went with the shorter-term deal worth less total dollars, but a larger annual salary and more opt-outs. According to Houston television reporter Ari Alexander, Bregman wanted to be in Boston.

Bregman has a 1.240 career OPS in 21 games at Fenway Park. He has a .702 OPS in the same number of games at Comerica Park.

The Tigers didn¡¯t get the free-agent third baseman they sought, but they finally got clarity as Spring Training begins. If there were any hard feelings in Tigers camp, they didn¡¯t show.

¡°We¡¯re good,¡± said manager A.J. Hinch, whose ties with Bregman from his days as Astros skipper arguably formed Detroit¡¯s strongest link. ¡°I¡¯ve been in this game a long time. I value all these relationships, both that I have currently and the ones that I have from the past. Yeah, it¡¯s competitive. It¡¯s a sport that is ever-changing when you see a lot of people moving teams and things like that. But I think you¡¯ve got to take it for what it is and move into the next phase.¡±

Reliever Alex Lange, who played with Bregman at LSU in 2015, had similar sentiments.

¡°Breg¡¯s an all-time player, man,¡± Lange said. ¡°Before I played with Miguel Cabrera, he¡¯s probably the best player I ever played with. His intuition for the game is second to none. He knows the game backward and forward, studies the game, works his [tail] off. I¡¯m happy for him. It¡¯s good to see him get his money. I wish it would¡¯ve been with us, but we¡¯ll see down the road. It would¡¯ve been nice to have him, but we have a pretty good third baseman in [Matt] Vierling. I¡¯m excited that he¡¯s going to be taking the ball over there.¡±

Vierling looms as a key part of the next phase, as Hinch described it, and a big reason the Tigers were willing and able to stay in the mix for Bregman until his decision as alternatives went elsewhere. Vierling played 51 games at third with average defense in 2024, rating at 0 Outs Above Average according to Statcast, and 98 games in the outfield with 2 OAA.

Vierling was an early arrival to Spring Training to work at third base and outfield, and ready to pivot to the latter if Bregman became a Tiger. He made a similar shift last Spring Training once the Tigers signed Gio Urshela a week into camp.

¡°I¡¯ve kind of gone down that road before,¡± Vierling said Thursday. ¡°I¡¯m ready for anything, but right now I¡¯ll definitely start focusing more on third base.¡±

That doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯ll be Detroit¡¯s regular third baseman, even if he becomes an everyday player. Jace Jung, the slugging left-handed hitter who was a Top 100 prospect until a couple weeks ago, has a chance to earn at-bats against right-handed pitching, if the former first-round Draft pick can show more of his run production from the Minor Leagues and more power from his surgically repaired right wrist. He hasn¡¯t arrived in camp yet, but is expected to report later this week ahead of Monday¡¯s first full-squad workout.

There could be more in the mix, Hinch hinted. Hot corner chaos?

¡°Everybody knows the guys that are in camp,¡± Hinch said. ¡°I think it¡¯s going to be a healthy dose of guys. Are guys going to run out to third base now and take more ground balls? You watch them. I mean, everybody knows where the at-bats are.

¡°We¡¯ve shown over the course of last season with this group how we¡¯re going to use our roster and how we¡¯re going to try to maximize. If somebody steps up and grabs the at-bats that are available, great. That¡¯s what our hope is.¡±