How close were the Detroit Tigers to beating out the Boston Red Sox for their marquee free-agent signing last year?
Alex Bregman wound up choosing a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox that allowed him to opt out and pursue free agency again. So after a strong year, he’s right back where he started, with the Red Sox and Tigers once again expected to compete for his services.
Meanwhile, the Tigers just beat the Red Sox in a different arena, as Tarik Skubal bested second-place finisher Garrett Crochet for American League Cy Young Award honors. Now, Skubal wants Bregman on his squad.
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On Thursday, at the Major League Baseball Awards Show, Skubal made it clear he thought of Bregman and spelled out his hopes that the Tigers would pursue the three-time All-Star.
“He’s a great player,” Skubal said, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “I’d love to play with him, obviously. Hopefully, we can do it again (pursue him) this year. I know he’s a free agent again. I’d love to be teammates with him. He’s a great player and he’d bring a lot to our club, for sure.”
First, it’s no wonder that Skubal would love to play with Bregman. He’s been unable to solve the third baseman in his career, as Bregman’s stat line against him is 6-for-12 with a double, a triple, and a home run, good for a 1.500 OPS.
Second, Skubal could have bigger fish to fry this offseason. With just a year to go until his own free agency and reports claiming that he and the Tigers are apart by hundreds of millions of dollars on a potential extension, he’s become one of the top sources of trade rumor fodder.
The Red Sox certainly need to consider the Tigers a threat to sign Bregman, however. They offered him the most money last offseason at six years, $171.5 million, but he opted for the higher average annual value. The only question is whether Detroit’s front office still wants him as badly a year later.
But will Skubal and Bregman ultimately become and stay teammates? There are many dominoes to fall before we learn that answer.
New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson gave a vote of confidence to general manager Mickey Loomis as he has come under fire for the team’s 2-8 start to the season, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Friday.
Loomis has been the Saints’ GM since 2002, adding the title of executive vice president in 2013.
The team’s issues include an offense that ranks toward the bottom of the NFL with 297.2 yards gained per game. Only two teams are worse than New Orleans’ 15.5 points per game.
Quarterback Spencer Rattler has averaged 198.3 yards passing through eight games. Only five quarterbacks that have appeared in at least eight games are worse.
On defense, the Saints are 13th in the NFL with 317.5 yards per game, although they are in the bottom third of the league with 25.0 points allowed.
“It may not be what fans want to hear, but as far as firing Mickey Loomis, that’s ridiculous,” Benson told the newspaper this week. “(He) does a great job.”
The Saints’ 1-8 start was the worst in franchise history since 1980 before they earned a 17-7 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday that was led by the defense. The victory ended a four-game losing streak, with the only other win this season against the New York Giants.
The Saints have missed the playoffs in four consecutive seasons and are all but assured to not see a postseason game this year.
“You don’t think Mickey Loomis is losing sleep at night over all of this? He is,” Benson said. “… It’s not an easy job. It’s not like he’s sitting on his butt, not worrying about things.”
Loomis put together a team that won the Super Bowl following the 2009 season. It started a run where the Saints advanced to the playoffs in eight of 12 seasons, before the current postseason drought began.
The Saints have nine regular seasons with double-digit wins under Loomis after having just five in franchise history before he took over the GM role.