Until the last minute, "the last second," said Alex Bregman, he thought he was going to sign this offseason with the Tigers. Then the Red Sox came through with their three-year, $120 million offer and the All-Star third baseman wound up in Boston.
"Honestly everything happened in the last 30 minutes," Bregman said Wednesday on Foul Territory. "It was kind of rapid fire. We thought we were going somewhere else the entire time and then in the last 30 minutes we talked to Boston and the deal got done."
Asked where he thought he was going, Bregman said, "We thought we were going to be in Detroit the entire time, honestly. And then at the last second, Boston kind of came in.”
Boston's offer, which includes opt-outs after each of the next two seasons, trumped the Tigers' offer of six years and $171.5 million with an opt-out after 2026.
Bregman's camp made two counter-offers to Detroit -- one for $200 million over seven years, another for $186 million over six years with an opt-out after 2025 -- both of which the Tigers declined. Now they have a glaring hole at third base.
Bregman, who turns 31 this month, chose the Red Sox over the Astros, Tigers and Cubs and said that his relationship with A.J. Hinch was a large part of why he almost signed in Detroit. Bregman played under Hinch for four seasons with the Astros and won a World Series and two American League pennants.
"It’s a great relationship," he said. "I think he’s an amazing manager, great guy. We talk all the time, and we were talking all offseason. Obviously they had a really good team last year, they have a really good team again this year, and we wanted to be in a position, in a place that we felt like we could win. It was between Houston, Boston, Detroit and Chicago, and I feel like all four of those organizations were winning organizations.
"Had great conversations with all of them and ultimately, super excited to be here and to be playing in Boston."