Royals still have golden chance to succeed in market where Tigers continue to fail

In what had been quite the widespread lull in offseason activity around Major League Baseball, the Chicago Cubs and Alex Bregman put an end to that and brought the Hot Stove to a boil on Saturday. The two agreed to a five-year, $175 million contract on Saturday.

While many will focus on his fit with the Cubs and projecting what they will look like with him moving forward, there's certainly going to be focus on the team's who missed out on Bregman's signature, which includes a familiar rival of the Kansas City Royals...the Detroit Tigers.

Last season, the Tigers were one of the key finalists for Bregman's signature, offering him a six-year contract according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, before he ultimately decided to sign a three-year deal with an opt-out after the first with the Boston Red Sox.

This time around, while the Tigers need for an impactful third base bat was still just prevalant as it was last winter, there seemed to be less tangible buzz around a potential union with Bregman. However, there was still plenty of analysts and outlets proposing a fit.

So, now that Detroit has struck out again on an All-Star bat of Bregman's caliber, it lines up the Royals to one-up their rivals and achieve something Detroit has seemingly desired since reaching postseason heights back in 2024.

Acquiring a big bat would give Royals a leg up on Tigers after missing out on Alex Bregman

As mentioned earlier, the Tigers and Bregman made a whole lot of sense as a free agent fit, with some ambiguity of who exactly will play third base in 2026.

Jace Jung never took the reins and ran with it, Zach McKinstry's value seems to be in his defensive versatility and Colt Keith would have to endure a third position change in order to play there.

However, now they'll have to address their infield needs elsewhere with Bregman set for the Windy City.

This gives the Royals the chance to really capitalize on their rivals' misfortunes and establish themselves as a top-tier competitor in the division alongside the Tigers.

They've been linked to a pair of high profile trade targets in Jarren Duran and Brendan Donovan, who may not have the track record Bregman has but are still All-Star bats themselves.

The Tigers were looking for Bregman to slot in within the heart of their order and that's precisely what the Royals would hope for from Duran or Donovan, fitting within the first and fifth spot of the order alongside Bobby Witt Jr, Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez.

The AL Central will surely be tightly contested once again in 2026 and any way to get the upper hand over rivals, even if it's only slight, will certainly benefit the Royals in their quest to reign supreme in the division for the first time since 2015.