Tigers get absolutely hosed in ESPN's latest free agency predictions

There are still two months before the start of spring training, but with the way things are trending for the Detroit Tigers' offseason, it looks like they've killed any momentum they gained at the end of the 2024 season and the postseason. They've made a single free agent acquisition in Alex Cobb, who they gave an absurd amount of money, but have otherwise failed to do anything interesting.

It'd be fair for fans to feel a little betrayed, given all of the hype the Tigers seemed to have coming into the offseason, but it's also hard to be surprised about this. The Tigers have always been conservative (and often incredibly questionable) spenders, so maybe it was naive to get our hopes up in the first place.

When the offseason began, when everyone still had hope that the Tigers might do something substantial to improve the team in 2025, imaginations ran wild. Detroit was connected to guys like Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, and Alex Bregman. All seemed to be pretty far outside of their price range to begin with, but there was, at that point, still some hope that they'd actually take a leap.

Bregman is the last glimmer of hope, but the Tigers are likely to be unwilling to pay the projected $200 million+ he's expected to make in free agency.

ESPN seemed to think so too. In a new column from David Schoenfield, he noted the Tigers had been connected to Alonso, Walker, Bregman, Jack Flaherty, and Sean Manaea, but predicted that none of them would land in Detroit (subscription required).

ESPN links multiple free agents including Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso to the Tigers but predicts Detroit will fall short

Flaherty and Manaea are non-starters at this point; the Tigers have already said they're done with signing starters that aren't named Roki Sasaki. Either would be a great addition (re-addition, in Flaherty's case), but the Tigers would rather audition four starters for their last two rotation spots at spring training next year.

Alonso, Walker, and Bregman are, as previously mentioned, probably too far outside of the Tigers' price range, and their devotion to Spencer Torkelson at first base doesn't seem to have completely evaporated despite early reports that they might cut ties with him this season. Third base still looks pretty open — the Tigers will also audition Jace Jung in the spring — but again, the Tigers don't want to spend money. The last time they gave a player over $100 million was Javy Báez in 2021.

So, yeah, ESPN is probably right on this one. If the Tigers come out of the offseason having signed no one but Cobb, it wouldn't surprise anyone at this point.

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