Detroit Tigers probably won’t be this bad next season

Detroit Tigers fans haven’t seen the best play from the team in September. The Tigers might not contend in 2018, but they won’t be this bad.

Detroit Tigers players have endured a rough September, this much is true.

The team has been playing without the recently traded Justin Verlander and Justin Upton, as well as the injured Michael Fulmer—and it’s showed.

Detroit has played 22 games this month, winning just four of them. Over that same span, the Tigers are also sporting a -71 run differential over that span.

Of course, Detroit has also been without Victor Martinez, who himself is sidelined for the rest of the season.

While there have been undoubted positives—Nicholas Castellanos’ offense, Matthew Boyd and Jeimer Candelario’s overall play—Miguel Cabrera and company are plummeting towards the American League Central.

After Friday’s loss, Detroit and the White Sox fell into a tie at the bottom of the American League for the Junior Circut’s worst record.

In the long run, this is probably for the best as Detroit seemed ticketed for a losing year after trading Verlander and Upton.

Now the team can snag the highest draft pick possible in order to add an impact prospect to the team’s farm system.

Sure, some combination of Jose Iglesias, Shane Greene, Ian Kinsler and Alex Wilson could conceivably be traded.

However, the Detroit Tigers won’t struggle this much next season.