In case you have been living under a rock for the past couple of days, we have some bad news for you. Late Wednesday night, news broke that Alex Bregman had passed up a 6-year, $171.5 million deal with the Detroit Tigers to sign a 3-year, $120 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. Now, the Tigers will have to pivot, and one MLB insider suggests they could try to trade for future Hall of Famer Nolan Arenado.
Detroit Tigers Left Scrambling
Bregman had been the primary free-agent target for the Tigers for the entire off-season, and now they are left scrambling to figure how they will fill their third base needs.
One option for the Tigers is to roll with what they have. What they have is Matt Vierling, who is a solid player, and Jace Jung, who still has a lot to prove before he can be considered an everyday option at the hot corner. Had the Tigers landed Bregman, he would have been the team’s everyday third baseman, allowing Vierling to be a utility player, which gives him the most value.
Is Nolan Arenado Plan B?
According to MLB insider Jon Morosi, the Tigers are a team to watch when it comes to Arenado.
“The Tigers and the Yankees to me are the two teams I am watching on a possible Nolan [Arenado] deal if not in the coming days, then sometime before Opening Day.”
"The Tigers and the Yankees to me are the two teams I am watching on a possible Nolan [Arenado] deal if not in the coming days, then sometime before Opening Day."
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 13, 2025
– @jonmorosi on #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/djSpjeWMfM
Nolan Arenado By The Numbers
- Age: Turns 34 in April 2025
- Games Played (2024): 578
- Hits: 157
- Home Runs: 16
- Batting Average: .272
- Runs Scored: 70
- RBIs: 71
- Stolen Bases: 2
- On-Base Percentage: .325
- Slugging Percentage: .394
- On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS): .719
- Wins Above Replacement (WAR): 2.5
Bottom Line
At this point, if I was a betting man, I would bet on the Tigers rolling with Vierling and Jung platooning at third base rather than trading for Nolan Arenado. That said, Detroit really wants to add an additional right-handed bat to the lineup, and though Arenado is on the downside of his career, he could still provide an upgrade. The question is, how much would that upgrade cost.
