3 players Tigers fans already regret not adding this offseason

With the Detroit Tigers owning the best record in the American League, it's worthwhile to wonder how much better they would be if they signed certain free agents this past offseason.

Let's start with the obvious, Alex Bregman. The Tigers were "in" on Bregman until the Red Sox jumped in and made the more enticing offer. Per Bregman, "Honestly, we thought we were going to Detroit the entire time. Then, at the last second, Boston came in". Ouch.

There has to be a small, yet lingering feeling from the Tigers front office that things might be even better with a Bregman signing. Currently Bregman is 12th in MLB with 22 RBI while hitting .319 with a .937 OPS.

For Detroit, the impact Bregman would have had offensively is clear to see, but having an anchor at the hot corner would have been equally as valuable. The Tigers have been operating a third base-by-committee approach with Javier Baez (12 games), Andy Ibanez (12 games) Zack McKinstry (eight games), and now Jace Jung (five games). Having a lockdown third baseman who can provide a top-tier offensive approach? It would have been incredible.

How about Matthew Boyd? Yes, that Matthew Boyd. Currently for the Chicago Cubs, Boyd has been pitching very well with a 2.54 ERA across 28 1/3 innings pitched. Perhaps most notable about Boyd's performance so far this season is that he's only made his starts against arguably two of the best National League teams, the Padres and the Dodgers. In all three of his dive starts this year, Boyd has gone at least six innings with all three being quality starts.

Perhaps Detroit was in on Boyd, looking for another veteran starter to add to the rotation as insurance for Jackson Jobe or Kenta Maeda. Remember when that was a position battle in spring training? Yeah, me too. This is obviously very speculative thinking, but it could have been a discussion amongst the front office given the Alex Cobb signing. Cobb gives the rotation another veteran arm and an "innings-eater" but is proving to be a sunk cost with how the rest of the staff is performing. At least having Boyd would've given them a legitimate juggernaut six-man rotation.

Boyd signed a two-year contract at a $14.5 million AAV where Cobb signed a one-year contract at $15 million. Considering Detroit's only left-handed starter in the rotation being Tarik Skubal, it might've been nice to save some money, have another lefty competing for a rotation spot, and an option for a "flex" starter in the bullpen between Jobe and Boyd, with Boyd providing relief if the younger arms were put on a limit later in the year.

Building off the same point made for Boyd, take a look at an under-the-radar pitcher in Andrew Heaney.

Signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates for a whopping one-year $5.25 million contract, Heaney has been pitching like a Cy Young candidate with a 1.72 ERA, a sparkling 0.77 WHIP, and 31 strikeouts all across five starts (31 1/3 innings). That's incredible.

Obviously, when looking at Heaney's career numbers, this might be an unsustainable run he's on, but for the price and the flexibility he would have brought to the pitching staff, it might have been worth consideration.

Not to mention that Heaney was a part of the 2023 World Series Texas Rangers club, so he comes with a little bit of championship pedigree.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but it's a fun (and maybe somewhat depressing) thing to think about. Who do you think the Tigers missed out on this past offseason?