After missing out on the Alex Bregman sweepstakes, the Detroit Tigers and Scott Harris, their president of baseball operations, are ready to move forward. Bregman decided to sign with the Boston Red Sox on a three-year, $120 million contract that includes an opt-out clause after each season. The Tigers offered six years and just above $170 million with an opt-out after the 2026 season.
Harris addressed Bregman's decision to head to Boston over Detroit while both ball clubs get ready for next season as pitchers and catchers start to report for spring training. Here's everything Harris had to say, via Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic:
"Was I disappointed? I don't think I would characterize my emotions that way," Harris said of Bregman's choice to sign with the Red Sox. "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. We knew that was a possibility throughout this process and we planned for that outcome. We're fortunate to be in this spot where we have an owner in Chris [Ilitch] who gives us the flexibility to chase the lead free agents. We're going to land those guys sometimes, like we did with Jack Flaherty. Sometimes we're not, and that's fine.
"But 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 Tigers made an improbable postseason run last season. They were 55-63 on Aug. 10 and then went on a tear to finish the regular season 86-76. They swept the Houston Astros in the wild-card before their playoff run was ended by the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series.
Detroit traded Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers at last season's trade deadline. He decided to return to the Tigers this offseason on a two-year deal to strengthen their rotation alongside Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. Even though they missed out on Bregman, Harris is confident in his group to build off last year's momentum.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tigers President Addresses Team Missing Out on Alex Bregman in Free Agency.
