Projecting Tigers' 2025 Opening Day lineup after Alex Bregman got away in free agency

On Wednesday night, long-suffering free agent Alex Bregman finally made a decision about where he was going to play in 2025, and he chose the Red Sox over the Tigers and Cubs. Bregman's deal with Boston is three years and worth $120 million (with deferred money and opt-outs involved), and he reportedly turned down a six-year, $171.5 million offer from the Tigers.

It immediately stung that Bregman chose the Red Sox instead, but it got even worse when the Tigers' offer was quickly revealed. It was pretty easy to deduce from there that Bregman just didn't want to play in Detroit.

So the Tigers are without a clear, everyday third baseman. The club seems enthusiastic but not entirely sold on Jace Jung, and both Matt Vierling and Andy Ibáñez should be expected to get some reps there throughout the year. Without Bregman, the Tigers basically just have one player who is assured an everyday role (Gleyber Torres at second), and we should expect them to keep things fast and loose by cycling in Vierling, Ibáñez, Zach McKinstry, Justyn-Henry Malloy, and Wenceel Pérez across multiple roles throughout the season.

Here's what this year's Opening Day roster could look like:

1. Parker Meadows (CF)
2. Matt Vierling (RF)
3. Riley Greene (LF)
4. Kerry Carpenter (DH)
5. Gleyber Torres (2B)
6. Colt Keith (1B)
7. Jace Jung (3B)
8. Javier Báez (SS)
9. Jake Rogers (C)

Tigers fans should expect to see even more shifting, flexible rosters in 2025 after losing Alex Bregman to Red Sox

Jung's presence in the Opening Day lineup seems contingent on his performance during spring training. If he hasn't shown enough progress to start at third base in that initial lineup, the Tigers could move Vierling there and then let Pérez or Malloy take over in right field.

Last year, however, the Opening Day lineup didn't really give us much of an indication of how the rest of the season's lineups would look, and over half of it was different by the second game of the season. With Spencer Torkelson mostly out of the equation, they're going to have to toy around with No. 2 hitters, but Meadows should have the leadoff spot locked down and we should expect to see see Carpenter (who can also shift to right field when needed) at cleanup.

Manager AJ Hinch seemed to prefer to keep things flexible last season, and although guys like Meadows and Vierling have seemed to play their ways into regular roles, the Tigers will still want to give Pérez and Malloy at-bats to develop further.

The bottom line is that the Tigers not getting Bregman leaves a lot of room for uncertainty, but that was a space that Hinch seemed comfortable occupying and working within last year. It's not ideal, but the Tigers have even more to prove now that Bregman's off the table.