Tigers insider's roster projection, Alex Bregman update put final nail in coffin

The Tigers' lack of movement with Alex Bregman has been nothing short of exasperating. Their interest in him got fans' hopes up, but all we've been met with since has been silence, along with a few errant crumbs to notify us that the Tigers are still interested, but talks haven't made any progress.

Bregman is one of the last major free agents left on the market. His free agency has been playing out in seemingly the same way as agent Scott Boras' five mislead clients' last offseason, when they played chicken with the league and then were forced to take short-term deals, many after spring training had started.

But, of course, the Tigers aren't the only ones in on Bregman. The Blue Jays and Red Sox are both said to be in pursuit, and Alex Cora shared an ominous tweet on Monday with just the emoji of a check mark, which immediately got Boston fans looking forward to big news and speculating on Bregman's addition.

To make matters worse, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press wrote more of the same on Tuesday: the Tigers are still talking to Bregman, but no progress has been made. He also released an updated roster prediction for 2025, which put Jace Jung at third base.

Tigers reportedly still stalling on Alex Bregman as fans' hopes fade

It wouldn't even take a diehard Tigers fan to figure out what the problem is between the two parties. It's pretty simple; the Tigers don't spend a lot of money, and Bregman wants a lot of money. There's also the added element of Detroit's protectiveness over their prospects, and although Jung would make a nice trade piece after a promising month and a half last year, he would be hundreds of millions of dollars cheaper than Bregman.

What makes things even more frustrating is that the Tigers don't even seem fully sold on Jung and, if they don't get Bregman, will be watching him closely in spring training to see if he can earn the everyday spot. Trey Sweeney, who he was called up with and who finished the season with a worse line than Jung, is already confirmed as co-shortstop to Javy Báez.

It really just boils down to the fact that the Tigers don't want to spend money, which is something that fans are used to but still isn't easy to accept, especially after so much of the offseason has been spent in suspense, waiting for a signing that looks more unlikely every day.