Detroit Tigers Fall Below .500 for First Time in 2015, Look Like Sellers
By Matt Snyder
After dropping the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, the Detroit Tigers saw their record fall to 45-46 (.495). It’s the first time this season that the team has dipped below the .500 mark.
The Tigers had fallen to .500 three previous times, but they had always found a way to come up with a win and keep their head above water.
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Detroit Started the season 9-1, but have won just 36 games and lost 45 since those two first hot weeks of the year.
The default trade deadline mode looks like it should now be “sell”. The Tigers have 11 days to change that, but how well do they have to perform during this upcoming stretch to make buying make sense?
6-5 would only get them back to .500. That might be good enough for Mike Ilitch to try to force the issue, but, as things currently stand, they’re nearly five games out of the wild card hunt with three teams in between them and the Astros (who hold the second wild card spot). That makes for a significant amount of ground to make up with only 2.5 months remaining.
I don’t think I would recommend buying unless they can go something like 8-3 in the lead up to the deadline, and even then it would be worth surveying the wild card landscape and consulting the various playoff odds reports.
For now, though, Dave Dombrowski would be best served spending his time soliciting the best offers for soon-to-be free agents David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, Joakim Soria, Alex Avila, Rajai Davis, and Alfredo Simon.
If they’re going to be sellers, they might as well go all-in to position themselves to best contend in 2016. Adding a few young, cost-controlled pieces now could help them compete next year (and beyond). And if the Tigers were interested in retaining any of the above players beyond this season, they can always pursue them again in free agency.
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