As was revealed in the week, Alex Bregman finally made up his mind in the process of choosing between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers, who were firm with him and even offered him more money and more time on his contract, which is why one would think that there would be great disappointment within the team.
However, Tigers general manager Scott Harris insisted that he was not disappointed that Bregman decided to sign with the Boston team: “We want players who want to be Tigers. We made a very compelling offer to Alex Bregman, but he chose to sign elsewhere. That’s OK,” he told a press conference in front of several media outlets at the team’s spring camp.
“We’re going to be fine without him”
And to make it clear, Harris said: “We’re going to be fine without Alex Bregman. We still have a locker room that just got to the postseason and beat a team with him“, although he did not make direct reference to his high-profile reinforcements, two-time All-Star second baseman Gleyber Torres and pitcher Jack Flaherty, who is coming in to renew the rotation.
Of those he did talk about were his ‘boys’: “We’ve got Jace Jung, who worked his way through the minor leagues, a left-handed hitter who deserves a lot of reps at this level (…) also Matt Vierling, who is a versatile and athletic right-handed hitter who had a good year, as well as Andy Ibanez, who is a lefty who plays very well defensively at third base. Those guys are going to help us win a lot of games this year,” he said confidently.
Detroit surpassed Bregman when he was with Houston
Harris’ words resonate because Detroit swept Houston in the first round last year after a late-season comeback to win a wild card, ending a decade-long postseason drought. The Detroit Tigers were eliminated by Cleveland in their American League Division Series.
Bregman, 30, helped Houston win two World Series titles, including one with current Detroit manager A.J. Hinch in 2017, in nine seasons with the Astros.
The third baseman and two-time All-Star signed a three-year, $120 million contract after turning down an offer that was reportedly for more years and more money from Detroit, and while it seems like a bad decision, no one in his camp has come out to say why the story ended.
*With information from Lapresse
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