Detroit Tigers Buyers or Sellers? Play in June will decide

With many home games mixed with a challenging road trip, the Detroit Tigers need to excel in month of June to prove that they can win in 2016, or plan for the future.

The Detroit Tigers headed into their last games of the second month of the season on Memorial Day at a disappointing 24-25, one game under .500. Nonetheless, they are still in the thick of the AL Central race.

This is a bit surprising considering early on in the month it looked as if the Tigers were on their way to another lost year. On May 14, they were a season-worst six games below .500 at 15-21, having gone 1-9 in their previous 10 games, were in fourth place, and 5.5 games behind the surging Chicago White Sox, who got off to an incredible start of 24-13.

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The next day, the Tigers salvaged a game against the first place Baltimore Orioles and rolled through a home stand against weak opponents to get back a game over .500. After two straight losses in Oakland, predictable in the annual west coast trip of doom, they fell back under .500. Nonetheless, after Chicago has gone 3-11 since that date, the Tigers have hung around.

The Pale Hose Swoon, however, has not allowed the Tigers to emerge out of fourth place, with the Royals taking the most advantage by climbing back into first place. With the defending World Champions surging, to win the division, or at least contend for a playoff spot, the Tigers have to play in June as they did in their most recent home stand.

The Importance of June

The month opens with the Tigers concluding their road trip in Anaheim, a place where they rarely have success. Then comes a quick turnaround with a game against the Yankees in Detroit to make up for an early April rainout.

From there, it’s the first three games of the season against the White Sox at Comerica Park, and then the fledgling Blue Jays for three before the Tigers hit the road for a grueling 10-game, three-city road trip to the Bronx, Chicago, and four games in Kansas City. A lengthy home stand with the Mariners, Indians, and Marlins ends the month.

In a very home-heavy month, where there are only two off-days and they play all their division rivals except for the woeful Minnesota Twins, the Tigers must win often, finishing June at least 16-12. Should they finish .500 or worse, it’s time to face the facts that this team is not a contender and must begin planning to sell players.

A year ago on July 1, the Tigers sat at 39-38, a still doable six games behind Kansas City in third place, and in the thick of a crowded wild-card race. Two days later, Miguel Cabrera left a game with an injury and missed five weeks of action. Without their future Hall-of-Famer, the Tigers were toast, although no one within the organization wanted to admit it until a few days before the trading deadline.

Ultimately, the team made some pretty solid moves by adding Michael Fulmer, Matt Boyd, Daniel Norris, JaCoby Jones, and others, for David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, and Joakim Soria. That said, the fact that this team was selling likely cost Dave Dombrowski his job less than a week later.

Trading Deadline Candidates

Who are the candidates that may be most marketable if this team fails in June? Perhaps the biggest one is Ian Kinsler, who is having an All-Star year at the plate and a Gold Glove season in the field (although even Gold Glovers have costly mistakes from time to time). Kinsler offers a steady presence on every aspect of the field, and would add veteran leadership to a contender.

Nick Castellanos has finally arrived on the scene this year, and while I’ve championed Nick’s metamorphosis, some fans may want the team to strike while the iron is hot and grab some pieces for a player that is deemed as a one-dimensional, bat-only player in the future. With an aging Miggy seemingly headed for DH when Victor Martinez likely departs after 2018, is there a place for Castellanos if the organization doesn’t trust him at third base in late innings?

Early on, Francisco Rodriguez was heart attack central, blowing his first save chance on Opening Day and getting into some rocky outings after. Other than allowing a run in each of his most recent outings (prior to May 30), K-Rod has quietly put Tigers’ fans’ closer concerns to rest by converting his last 14 save chances. A closer, or depth at the back-end of the bullpen, is always a tremendous need for a contending team.

Bottom Line

Hopefully the Tigers won’t need to sell at the trading deadline because experiencing a year without a pennant race is not anything any of us want repeated so soon, however here’s hoping the team is a little more realistic about their plight this year than they were last.

Next: Lions: 5 Returning Players With Roster Spots In Doubt

June is the key to whether this team will contend in 2016, or if they should finally hit the reset button and begin planning for the future beyond 2017.

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