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A citywide baseball debate is in full swing, and everyone seems to have an opinion.
With MLB’s trade deadline fast approaching, everyone is throwing in their two cents regarding the Tigers, and whether they should approach said date as buyers or sellers.
The crowd saying, “Buy! Buy!” is hell-bent on zapping some life into this otherwise pulseless season. They see the window for this current crop of Tigers fast closing and want to make one last push before the whole thing goes belly-up.
The crowd chanting, “Sell! Sell!” is absolutely sure that the 2015 Tigers have no place in this fall’s postseason. They see the countless holes along the team’s pitching staff, the lack of prospects, and demand that this year’s club be blown to smithereens in the hopes of replenishing the farm system and competing again in a few years.
But isn’t there a third school of thought too? What about just leaving things the way they are? Why does every major league team, halfway through the year, have to declare themselves as “buyers” or “sellers?”
Is there something terribly wrong with letting this talented but scuffling roster try to find a little momentum in the season’s final two and a half months? I don’t think so.
And in all honesty, what sparkling haul are you really bringing back for Rajai Davis? Or Joakim Soria?
Understandably, David Price will be a super-hot commodity leading up to the July 31st deadline. But with his impending free agency, it’s not as if a contending team is going to just hand over their top two or three prospects for nine or ten Price starts.
Plus, by holding onto the southpaw for the remainder of the year, it likely gives the Tigers the upper hand in trying to re-sign him this off-season. Trade him away, show him how green the grass is somewhere else -- all of a sudden he’s gone, and next year’s rotation is reminiscent of the infamous "Lira-Olivares-Van Poppel-Gohr" Mound Apocalypse of ’96.
I can’t sit here and honestly proclaim this Tigers season a success. Nobody can. They’ve played 88 games and sit smack dab at .500. But as I’ve mentioned more than once in this space, excellence in the baseball regular season is no longer a requirement for World Series dreams.
Prior to 1969, only the top finisher from each league was invited to play in the Fall Classic.
From that point until 1993, two teams from each league were awarded postseason qualification.
Then the divisions were split into three, a wild card was added, and four teams from each league were deemed playoff-worthy.
To muddy the waters a little more, Bud Selig and his team of geniuses decided another wild card was needed, meaning five teams from each league would be invited to the October dance. As it stands today, exactly one third of all major league ball clubs make the playoffs: 10 of 30.
This little history lesson is fleshed out to let us know that the Tigers are not dead in the water by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, despite their turbulent first half, they still find themselves a very manageable 3.5 games from an AL playoff spot.
Seventy-five years ago? They’d be done. 50 years ago? Same thing. Even 25 years ago we’d be making funeral arrangements.
But in the present day, where marginal teams like the Giants can sleepwalk through a regular season and still emerge doused in champagne? The door never really closes entirely.
So, let’s all relax for a moment; catch our collective breath; realize that our current baseball nightmare would be just that in 1985, but that in 2015, it’s little more than a hiccup.
Justin Verlander looked like his old self against Minnesota. Anibal Sanchez has been very good since his dominant outing at home against the Cubs, the Tigers winning each of his last six starts. David Price is one of the top five or ten hurlers in the game. J.D. Martinez might hit 45 home runs. Ian Kinsler is beginning to display an active heartbeat.
Of course, this club is nowhere near flawless. There are dead spots in the lineup and the bullpen is an outright mess. But history tells us that these obstacles can be overcome, and that championship glory is never really that far out of reach.
Some might label such a title as fluky. They might cry about a third place team in a five-team division winning the World Series.
But the trophy will look just as spectacular and the champagne will taste just as sweet.
Adding a bunch of pieces in two weeks is probably unrealistic. But it doesn’t mean you have to go sell off half the club, either.
Sometimes it’s okay just to keep the same crew aboard and hope to steady the ship as the voyage progresses -- especially when the modern laws of the sea require little more than mediocrity to reach the final destination.
