LAKELAND, Fla. — Scott Harris, the Detroit Tigers’ president of baseball operations, stood in the shade near the right-field wall of Joker Marchant Stadium, green Gatorade cup in hand. Friday morning, less than 48 hours removed from the defining event of his team’s offseason, Harris knew what questions were coming. He had his talking points ready. He projected a determined, confident tone.
Meanwhile, 125 miles south in Fort Myers, Alex Bregman — the white whale of the Tigers’ winter — was dropping off his bags as a member of the Boston Red Sox.
“Was I disappointed?” Harris said of Bregman’s decision to sign with Boston. “I don’t think I would characterize my emotions that way. I would say we want players who want to be here. I say it a lot because I mean it. We want players who want to be Tigers. We made a very compelling offer to Alex Bregman, but he chose to sign somewhere else. That’s fine. … Heading into this entire process we knew that given all the work we had done on the development and acquisition front, we were going to be able to run out a really good team with or without Alex Bregman.”
The mere fact the Tigers pursued Bregman so aggressively — offering six years and in excess of $171 million dollars — tells you how badly they wanted and needed Bregman. The star third baseman whose camp had expressed a desire for a long-term deal all winter ended up signing with the Red Sox for three years and $120 million, including deferred money, with opt-outs after both the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Was that a surprise to the Tigers, who stepped up to meet Bregman’s desire for a long-term commitment?
“You never really know until they make a decision,” Harris said. “He chose to take a short-term deal. It’s his right to be in free agency. I don’t really think any of the details throughout the process matter all that much anymore.”
Overall, Harris’ words Friday reflect the tone building throughout Tigers camp now that the long Bregman saga is over. More defiance than depression. Perhaps masking some of their scorn, Harris and manager A.J. Hinch have begun touting the players already here in Lakeland.
“There’s a lot to be proud of in this organization,” Harris said. “We just won a postseason series for the first time in 11 years. We have a young, emerging core in the big leagues. We have a really talented pitching staff. We have one of the best farm systems in baseball. But none of that matters unless we build upon what we did last year.”
Jace Jung, a 24-year-old former first-round pick, represents an internal option for Detroit at third base. (Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
The projection systems may not love the Tigers, and the questions surrounding their offense are legitimate. Third base is now most likely to be filled with a combination of internal options. Jace Jung, the rookie with a promising lefty bat but also defensive deficiencies, could be the leading candidate for playing time. Matt Vierling, coming off a 3-WAR season and also a capable outfielder, could see more innings on the dirt. Andy Ibáñez is a lefty killer. Zach McKinstry is a versatile player who was valuable for the Tigers down the stretch last season.
Harris indicated it’s unlikely the Tigers will add another right-handed bat via free agency. He said the Tigers will “explore trade opportunities,” but he also said he feels good about the team as it stands.
“It didn’t make sense for us before or after Alex to just pivot until someone would take our money,” Harris said. “I think in recent winters we’ve seen that continuing to pivot until someone takes your money may win a press release. It may not actually push your organization forward.”
Assuming the heavy lifting is now done, second baseman Gleyber Torres was the Tigers’ lone offensive addition of the offseason. Handpicked over first basemen on the market because of his age, his upside, his on-base skills and the fact he’s eligible for a qualifying offer at year’s end, the Tigers were willing to move Colt Keith to first base to accommodate Torres. Although Bregman could have lifted the Tigers to division favorites, the Tigers will now run it back as young, scrappy underdogs, albeit a year older and with playoff experience tacked to their walls.
“Again, that’s fine,” Harris said of missing out on Bregman. “We’re going to be fine as an organization. The broader theme here is we can’t be an organization that is dependent upon signing a specific free agent. We don’t want to be the organization that is desperate to sign a specific free agent or hinges our current plans or our future on a specific free agent. We have to be dependent on the young talent we’re acquiring or developing.”
Gleyber Torres and his career 112 OPS+ was the Tigers’ lone offensive addition. (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
On that front, there’s no denying the Tigers’ farm system and overall organizational health is the best it’s been in a long, long time. The Harris front office has quickly modernized, energized and reshaped the Tigers into a brainy baseball operation. “We’re trying to be an elite development organization,” Harris said.
Still, projecting into the future and buying into prospect hype is always a dangerous game. But the Tigers’ young core has already proven its worth, and the farm system is packed with middle-of-the-diamond athletes. Prospects drafted under this regime are only now beginning to rise to the upper minors.
So in regard to the fact that ace Tarik Skubal is under team control for only two more seasons — something that could soon cause difficult decisions — Harris made it clear the Tigers do not view their competitive timeline as a narrow window.
“We don’t see it that way,” he said. “We see an organization that has come a really long way in two years that is on the brink of becoming one of those organizations that is a fixture in October. We haven’t earned that yet. We can’t talk like that. We have to continue to get better in spring and into the season. But there are a lot of guys in that clubhouse that are going to be here for a long time.”
As for the 2025 team, Harris acknowledged the “blessing and curse” of what will still be one of MLB’s youngest groups of position players. There will be nights, he said, where the Tigers get shut out. That’s part of it. There will be other nights, Harris said, where the offense explodes and you can see all the pieces melding together.
The goal for the front office is not to overreact to the bad days, not to get blinded by the good ones. They’ll stay the course and hope this club can turn last fall’s magic into a science for success.
“We’re going to be just fine without Alex Bregman,” Harris said once more. “We still have a clubhouse that just got to the postseason and just beat a team with Alex Bregman. So it clearly can be done.”
(Top photo: Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
