Detroit Tigers: Five Questions Still to be Answered
By Matt Snyder
Is The Next Wave of Talent Ready to Contribute at a High Level?
The core of the Detroit Tigers consists of aging players. Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Ian Kinsler, and even J.D. Martinez have likely all played their best seasons. Their peaks are behind them and all that remains is a steady decline.
That’s not to say these players aren’t still very good or valuable, it’s just that they’re no longer quite as good as they once were.
In order to challenge for a division — and hopefully World Series — title, the organization is going to have to get major contributions from other sources (and not just free agent signings).
James McCann has been tabbed as the catcher of the future and will take over full-time catching duties. Nick Castellanos is entering his third season as the everyday third baseman. Daniel Norris is looking to complete is first full season in a big league rotation.
All three of those players (and others like Michael Fulmer and Anthony Gose) are (or have been) full of potential, but none have yet proven themselves to be even average everyday contributors.
Can the Tigers expect a few of those names to take a big step forward in 2016? They’ll probably need to in order to compete for a championship.
Next: Is the Starting Lineup too Right-Handed Heavy?