I don’t know if I’d have more faith in Vierling as a regular 3B than Bregman. I think Bregman’s HR numbers would go down, but I’m not sure Vierling would be the better 3B.
We all acknowledge, I think, that Bregman’s best days are probably going to be behind him. I think he’s an upgrade over what the Tigers had at 3B last season. The questions to me are, what’s with his career BB% dropping from an annual 12% to 6% last season and is he at an offensive plateau right now and for how lomg?
I suspect that the BB% rebounds to double digits and that 2024 was an anomaly (maybe it was contract year pressure, maybe it was Houston’s poor start, maybe some of both).
As for his OPS going forward, I’m not as sure. It’s likely to traipse downward, but at what rate over 6 or 7 seasons?