5 Ways for Detroit Tigers to Win AL Central in 2017
By Matt Pelc
No Regression
In 2017, Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera will be 34, Ian Kinsler will be 35 and Victor Martinez is 38. These are ages when players begin to noticeably decline.
It’s for these reasons those in the “sell” camp wanted to see the club unload some of their aging superstars. You never know when “it” is going to go.
V-Mart had a bounceback year in 2016 after an off-year coming back from injury in 2015. So, you never know what you’re going to get with him. It was revealed that he’d been playing with a hernia last year and had surgery in October.
Miggy played through some injuries last year, but only missed four games, after sitting out six weeks in 2015. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a pitcher of Verlander’s age to have stats like he compiled in his down years of 2013-14 than in the second half of 2015 and most of 2016.
The mood of players at last week’s TigerFest seemed to be “getting the band back together,” and making one last run at winning it all. For any chance at this, none of these players can take a step back from their 2016 production levels.