Detroit Tigers May Consider Star Free Agent Slugger After Latest Development

The Detroit Tigers entered the offseason seen as a team that clearly needed to add some more pop to their lineup.

A miraculous run to the playoffs covered up some of the glaring needs, but a massive part of the reason the Tigers needed such a hot streak at the end of the year was the inconsistency of their offense throughout a large part of the campaign.

Getting guys like Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter back from injury certainly helped things down the stretch, but Scott Harris was open at the end of the year about the fact his team needs some right-handed hitters in their lefty-heavy lineup.

Gleyber Torres helps that, but he essentially takes a spot in the lineup from Spencer Torkelson, meaning there is no gain of an extra righty.

Detroit has also been linked to Baltimore Orioles slugger Anthony Santander, but what if they could aim even higher and bring in someone considered to be one of the best power hitters in all of baseball?

New reporting on Thursday indicated negotiations between the New York Mets and their star first baseman Pete Alonso are moving in the wrong direction. As contract talks have stalled, that team has reportedly been looking at other options for who could play first base for them.

Despite being arguably the face of their franchise, Alonso and the Mets have been unable to come to terms, and his camp may have overestimated their value on the open market.

Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY also wrote this week that the slugger may now be willing to take a shorter term deal which contains opt-outs, something the Tigers would potentially be extremely interested in.

To this point, Detroit has not been linked really at all to a possible pursuit of Alonso outside of rumors since the widely held belief was that he'd return to New York. But with things between the four-time All-Star and the Mets seemingly headed down a path of no return, perhaps the Tigers can get involved here.

Alonso has the potential to completely transform any lineup he's inserted into and is a threat to go deep every time he steps up to the plate.

Since he entered the league in 2019, only New York Yankees two-time MVP Aaron Judge has more home runs than Alonso's 226 blasts.

What exactly his fit would be on defense is an interesting question.

Colt Keith is set to move over to first base, but whether it's in the infield or in a designated hitter role, Alonso's bat is good enough to justify bringing him in and fitting the pieces around him as necessary.

If the price is right - which it very well may be - and Alonso has interest in joining a young, ascending American League team that he can help drastically, the fascinating fit between him and Detroit could potentially become reality.