Detroit Tigers’ Scott Harris defends MLB trade deadline approach
Detroit Tigers president Scott Harris and manager A.J. Hinch speak during season-ending news conference Monday, Oct. 13, 2025 at Comerica Park.
The Detroit Tigers may have a new offseason free agent target — though Tigers fans should know his name pretty well.
Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman is expected to opt out of his current contract, which would make him a free agent for the upcoming season. By opting out, Bregman would forgo the remaining $80 million left on his current deal. Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first to report late Tuesday, Oct. 14, on Bregman’s future.
Bregman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox in February 2025 — though $60 million was deferred through 2035-46, according to the Associated Press — after a bidding war with multiple teams, including the Tigers.
The Free Press reported the Tigers offered Bregman a six-year, $171.5 million deal with more total money than the contract he signed with the Red Sox.
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Detroit also offered Bregman an opt-out after the 2026 season, one year after the option in his current deal.
Bregman said he was nearly a Tiger when speaking in May at Comerica Park in Detroit.
“I think it was really close, but I made my decision to come here,” Bregman said at the time.
“It was not a diss of Detroit.”
Bregman had a solid season in Boston, slashing .273/.360/.462 with 18 home runs and 62 RBI over 495 plate appearances while limited to 114 games due to a right quad injury. Among all Red Sox players with at least 100 games played, Bregman’s .821 OPS was the highest, and he helped Boston (89-73) advance to the 2025 playoffs as the fifth seed in the American League. (The Tigers went 87-75 and were the sixth seed.)
Bregman is expected to be one of the top positional free agents of the 2026 class, along with Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker.
And with Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris acknowledging Monday the team’s offensive performance was a big reason for the late-season meltdown, another offseason pursuit of Bregman might be in the cards for the Tigers.
Bregman’s fit with the club wouldn’t just be at his defensive position, since the Tigers don’t have a dedicated third baseman on the roster (while carrying multi-positional options like Colt Keith, Zach McKinstry and Matt Vierling), but also with manager A.J. Hinch, with whom Bregman spent four seasons with the Houston Astros from 2016-19 before Hinch was suspended prior to the 2020 season. They won the 2017 World Series together.
Though there is much speculation about the Tigers’ plans to pursue a hitter like Bregman in the offseason, Harris did not comment about Bregman or any other pending free agent during his end-of-season news conference.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.