Tigers' reported lack of interest in Alex Bregman makes last year feel like a charade

Somewhere in Orlando, Scott Harris probably thinks he’s being prudent, disciplined, strategic; whatever buzzword is in vogue this winter. But to Tigers fans, this Alex Bregman situation feels like something else entirely: a sequel nobody asked for, except this time the plot twist is that Detroit might not even show up for the audition.

Because let’s be honest — if the Tigers are already leaking “lukewarm interest” in Bregman barely a year after aggressively chasing him for three months, then what exactly were they doing last offseason?

Detroit put the biggest contract on the table. They made the bold offer. They sold the “future is rising, be the missing piece” pitch. They went toe-to-toe with the Boston Red Sox and lost only because Boston stapled two opt-outs and a pile of deferred money to the deal like a desperate group project submission at 3 a.m.

Back then, the Tigers wanted you to believe it meant something — that the franchise had turned a corner, that big-game hunting was part of the new identity. Harris and Chris Ilitch wanted points for trying. They wanted goodwill for “being in the mix.”

And now? With Bregman back on the market, the Tigers’ “interest” is described as … tepid. How does that not make last winter look like a complete charade?

Tigers' "lukewarm" interest in Alex Bregman this winter raises questions about last year's free agency pursuit

You don't go all-in one winter and then shrug the next. If Bregman was worth a monster contract last year — as the Tigers clearly believed — then why isn’t he worth one again? He didn’t break. He didn’t crater. He didn’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight. He literally had the exact type of “post-opt-out bounce” season that teams anticipate when they offer opt-outs in the first place.

But the Tigers’ energy isn’t just lower this time. It’s practically nonexistent. It's almost like they’re pretending the whole courtship never happened.

Last offseason, the Tigers sold hope. This offseason, they’re selling “internal growth.” That’s lovely. Truly. We all want Colt Keith and Parker Meadows and Dillon Dingler to become stars. But internal growth and a real middle-of-the-order bat are not mutually exclusive. Bregman still fits this lineup. He still fills two needs: power and OBP. He still gives Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson real protection.

If the Tigers were serious last year, they should be serious now. If they aren’t serious now, then Tigers fans were right to wonder if they were ever serious in the first place.

Last year’s Bregman pursuit was supposed to signal a shift — a new era, a willingness to anchor the offense to a real star. But when the exact same opportunity reappears one year later and Detroit’s stance is “ehhh, we’ll see”… it becomes painfully obvious that the Tigers were either bluffing last winter or asleep this winter. There's no in-between.

Bregman might not be the perfect player forever. He might not come cheap. But stars rarely do, and the Tigers cannot keep pretending they are one bat away “someday” while refusing to actually acquire that bat today.

If they’re out on Bregman? Fine. Just admit that last year wasn’t a bold pivot — it was a PR exercise. Because right now, it feels like the Tigers only wanted the credit for trying, not the pressure of actually landing someone. And fans are tired of watching Detroit finish second in races that ownership swears it wants to win.

This Winter Meetings will tell us everything. Either last offseason was a meaningful step forward, or it was all for show.