Detroit Tigers: Assessing whether team can contend in next two seasons

Returning to some form of contention in the next two years is possible

Let’s get this out of the way first, the Detroit Tigers will probably need a lot of bounce-back performances for the team to improve.

The team will also need some prospects and additions from outside the organization to immediately make an impact.

That’s all easier said than done and may require some good fortune, but the Tigers certainly aren’t a team devoid of talent.

Resurgent seasons from Michael Fulmer and Miguel Cabrera will give the team a solid base to build on.

Meanwhile, the offense should also benefit from continued improvements from the likes of Nicholas Castellanos, Mikie Mahtook, Jeimer Candelario and James McCann.

The reality is that Detroit should be fine offensively even if Ian Kinsler is dealt. Teams have done better with worse offenses.

Where the Tigers really need to take steps forward, regardless of their place in the standings, is in the pitching department.

Whether it be the rotation or the bullpen, improvements are needed.

Matthew Boyd, Daniel Norris and Jordan Zimmermann all struggled at times last season, while the relievers were the only bullpen unit to have a collective WAR (-1.2) below zero.

The positive news here is that there is potential for improvement and effectiveness out of Detroit’s pitchers.

If Boyd and Norris pitch like 2.0+ fWAR pitchers and Zimmermann regains some past form and consistency, it would go a long ways towards stabilizing the rotation and the pitching staff as a whole.

The bullpen

Elsewhere, the Tigers have a number of talented relievers who could be turn into key contributors if they can start to figure things out.

Most prominent among them is Joe Jimenez.

Jimenez has the potential to be a shutdown, late-inning reliever.

After dominating hitter sin the minors, Jimenez made his Major League debut in 2017. While he didn’t exactly light the world on fire (4.81 SIERA, 4.26 walks allowed per nine innings in 19 frames), there were some encouraging signs in terms of missing bats.

Only four Detroit relievers had a higher swinging strike percentage than Jimenez’ 11.8 number.

One of those four was Victor Alcantara, who could pair with lefty Jairo Labourt to give the Tigers a pair of hard-throwing options earlier in games.

Add in Bryan Garcia, Zac Reininger and Drew VerHagen, and there’s potential for a promising young bullpen if the hurlers start make adjustments.

Even if just two of the aforementioned group start to figure things out and become dependable relief options, the Tigers will be in decent place.

Combine said relievers with Shane Greene, Alex Wilson, Daniel Stumpf and a veteran, place holder signing from the free agent market like Tony Watson or Luke Gregerson and Detroit’s bullpen may just be a strength.

The state of the rest of the American League

If the 2017 season taught us anything in the American League it’s that the Wild Card picture in the junior circuit is incredibly jumbled and messy.

Moving forward, that’s probably going to be the case.

The Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox are both rebuilding.

Kansas City could join them in starting over this offseason with first baseman Eric Hosmer, center fielder Lorenzo Cain, third baseman Mike Moustakas, shortstop Alcides Escobar and starting pitcher Jason Vargas hitting the free agent market this winter.

The Baltimore Orioles could be in a similar position next season as Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Brad Brach are all slated to become free agents following the 2018 campaign.

There’s also Anaheim and Seattle. Two teams that while talented, finished two and six games below .500 respectively.

However, both are propped up by uncharacteristically thin farm systems that may produce little in the way of impact talent in the coming seasons.

In other words, pretty much any team could have a shot in the Wild Card if they string together some positive results, receive some unexpected contributions and generally punch above their respective weight like the Twins did this past season.

The reality of the situation

In a perfect world, the Detroit Tigers would be able to play meaningful baseball into July or August next season.

However, that is a perfect world scenario as it is and might be unlikely if some of 2017’s trends repeat themselves.

If Cabrera continues to struggle at the dish, Boyd, Norris and Zimmermann all go through lengthy spells of inconsistency and the bullpen fails to make progress, the team will once again be sunk in the standings.

However, if Detroit can hit on some veteran free agent signings and make some progress across the board, they could eventually build themselves into a surprise Wild Card contender by 2019.

By that point, Franklin Perez, Christin Stewart, Grayson Long, Mike Gerber, Beau Burrows, Garcia and Dawel Lugo should be integrated into the team with the likes of Daz Cameron, Kyle Funkhouser, Sandy Baez and Jake Rogers closer to the Majors.

In conclusion

Baseball is a fickle sport and the standings often fluctuate from season to season. Just look at the Twins.

Minnesota has rattled off win totals of 70, 83, 59 and 85 in the past four seasons.

While the Detroit Tigers seem set for another year (or possibly two) of rebuilding, a lot can happen in two years around the league.

A pennant, or even a playoff berth may too far out of reach in the next two years.

Next: Tigers/Marlins trade ideas

However, the Tigers have the potential to lay the groundwork for a team that could bring a World Series trophy back to the Motor City in the following years.