MLB insider trying to kill Tigers fans' hopes of landing Alex Bregman

Detroit Tigers fans have been giddy for weeks since their club emerged as a favorite to sign slugging free agent third baseman Alex Bregman. However, on Thursday's edition of the Foul Territory podcast, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal hit those excited fans with a hefty dose of reality.

"He's a great fit for the Tigers," Rosenthal said. "I just don't expect the Tigers to spend."

Bregman had a six-year, $156 million offer on the table from his former team, the Houston Astros, that he deemed insufficient. He and his agent, Scott Boras, are seeking upwards of $200 million, which would be uncharted territory for this Tigers front office.

Since he took over as the Tigers' president of baseball operations in 2022, Scott Harris has handed out just one multi-year contract — the two-year, $24 million deal for Kenta Maeda — which is also the largest free agent contract he's handed out to date. It also feels worthwhile to mention here that said contract hasn't panned out well at all.

"It makes sense to me that they would go big for an Alex Bregman right now," Rosenthal continued. "I know they've got young players coming; they've got Jung's younger brother, Jace Jung, coming at third base. But Alex Bregman is an established player, and if you add talent, then you have a surplus of talent, and you can trade talent for other needs. That shouldn't be something that's prohibitive to the Tigers."

Ken Rosenthal's Alex Bregman reality check is bad news for Tigers fans

Rosenthal went on to point out that Tigers owner Chris Ilitch, son of late former owner Mike Ilitch, is not as aggressive in his spending as his father was. Together with Harris, who wants to keep pathways open for young players in the organization, he has created an environment that is not conducive to spending big on free agent signings.

That said, Harris has already gone against the grain once this offseason by signing Gleyber Torres to play second base, shifting Colt Keith to first and leaving former first-round pick Spencer Torkelson as the odd man out. But Torkelson hasn't been able to stick at the Major League level despite the multiple chances he's been given.

Jung, on the other hand, is still relatively unproven, with just 34 regular season MLB games under his belt. Relying on him to be the primary option at third base would be a calculated risk at this juncture, not to mention that he hasn't even been guaranteed a starting spot on the Opening Day roster in 2025.

Rosenthal suggested that signing Bregman could stabilize the Tigers' infield, taking some of the pressure off of Jung without necessarily blocking his path forward. Still, no matter how good the fit might be, the fact remains that the Tigers don't want to be big spenders. In the meantime, here's hoping Ilitch and Harris prove Rosenthal — and the rest of us — wrong.

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