Detroit Tigers' Surprising Failure in Free Agency Could Impact Offense

The Detroit Tigers made several moves this offseason, but the failure to do this one thing may hurt them this season.

Alex Bregman of the Boston Red Sox participates in drills at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. | andrew west / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With spring training heating up for the Detroit Tigers, the franchise is preparing to replicate their surprise success of last season. 

This winter, the Tigers did a nice job of making some upgrades to a team that shocked the league last year. 

Detroit were sellers at the trade deadline and sent a lot of their talent elsewhere. However, the team got hot for about two months after that and found themselves making the postseason and changing the outlook for the franchise. 

Even though they had a lot of success last season, they had some glaring areas of need this winter. 

The team certainly made some great upgrades to their pitching staff with the signings of Jack Flaherty, Alex Cobb and Tommy Kahnle. However, while the staff is looking really strong both in the rotation and the bullpen, there is a looming concern about their lineup. 

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com (subscription required) recently spoke about the biggest surprise for the Tigers this offseason being the franchise not bringing in an impact bat for the lineup.  

For much of the offseason, Detroit was linked to Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman. The former All-Star was really a perfect fit for the team and could have made a significant impact on them. 

Bregman not only would have solved a positional need at the hot corner, but he also could have been inserted right in the middle of the lineup for the Tigers. 

Hitting against left-handed pitching was an issue for Detroit last year and, with Gleyber Torres being the only addition this offseason to the batting order, it will likely remain an issue. 

While there aren’t a ton of free-agent options left at this point, a potential reunion with J.D. Martinez could make sense to provide some power against left-handed pitching. 

Furthermore, a couple of in-house options that the team would love to see perform well are Spencer Torkelson and Javier Baez. If one or both of these players were able to have some positive production in 2025, it would be a massive boost to the lineup. 

Despite really pursuing Bregman hard and making a significant offer, they did ultimately fall short. 

Now, there really isn’t a player of that caliber who the Tigers will be able to bring in to meet their needs. 

While it ended up being a strong offseason for Detroit, not bringing in the impact bat from the right-side might be something they regret. This is a team that has a lot of talent, but the offense will remain a potential question mark.