Detroit Tigers Links: Offseason Changes, Season Under Review

Oct 1, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; General view of 2014 Postseason logo on the field during workouts the day before game one of the 2014 ALDS at Oriole Park at Camden. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Offseason changes may break up Tigers’ core – Jason Beck, MLB.com
 

The crushed looks on the faces in the Tigers’ clubhouse showed the emotion of a season that ended too soon. That part was obvious.Go beyond the shock and disappointment of the American League Division Series sweep to the Orioles, capped by Sunday’s 2-1 loss, and there’s the underlying question whether this could be the end of an era.

The Tigers have won four consecutive division titles behind a core that included Max Scherzer in the rotation and Victor Martinez in the heart of the lineup. They’ve taken back-to-back postseason runs with Torii Hunter in the corner of the outfield and the heart of the clubhouse.All of them are free agents. So, too, is setup man Joba Chamberlain and left-hander Phil Coke. Newly-acquired reliever Joakim Soria could be, too, if the Tigers don’t pick up his contract option for next season.

The Detroit Tigers are facing an offseason full of questions. After four consecutive unsuccessful playoff trips, one has to wonder how long Dave Dombrowski will stay the course. Of course, there is also something to be said about a team that’s NOT the New York Yankees making the playoffs for four consecutive years. Whether or not we see any of the above mentioned players next season is truly the question of the hour, and we’ll surely spend many hours this winter discussing it.

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2014 Tigers just weren’t good enough to win it all – Kurt Mensching, Bless You Boys

There’s a certain solace that can be taken from the Tigers’ ALDS defeat. Not in the loss itself. That hurts. The end of a season hurts. The view into the abyss that is the offseason hurts. The lack of a World Series victory 30 years after the last one hurts. And yet, it all seems to hurt a little less this year because you really can’t say the defeat came as surprise. We saw it coming. We had time to prepare mentally. Loss hurts. It’s always going to hurt. But at least it wasn’t sudden. At least it wasn’t unexpected.