MLB.com Projects the Detroit Tigers’ Next World Series Appearance

An article from Will Leitch projects the next Detroit Tigers World Series appearance will not take place until 2028

It is no secret the Detroit Tigers are in a rebuild and have been for some time. Gone are the relentless attempts to win–these days, it has been more about acquiring young talent in hopes that someday they might be able to get matched with some veteran help to make a run.

The pandemic may have put a temporary pause on the plans for the club, but the team has now reached the stage in which some of their young talent is beginning to reach the big leagues. Prospects like Jake Rogers, Daz Cameron, Isaac Paredes, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Willi Castro have all made their respective MLB debuts over the past couple of seasons. The next step, then, would be to figure out which players would be a cornerstone to a contender and fill the remaining holes via free agency or trade.

In an article published by MLB.com, that contention will not come to fruition until 2028, where they would lose to the Dodgers in the World Series. While interesting they feel it will take that long for the Detroit Tigers, the most fascinating part of the article is who they believe will reach the big stage before them. The article predicts a Dodgers three-peat with fairly predictable match-ups, save maybe the Angels.

Leitch predicts a massive 180-turn for the Red Sox with a World Series appearance by 2024. The team just began their own rebuild last offseason and are rumored to be shopping some more MLB talent this year; namely outfielder Andrew Benintendi.

2027 also brings quite a matchup with clubs who have essentially aligned their timelines with the Tigers. Obviously, a lot can happen across the next six MLB seasons that will flip this entirely, but picking two clubs to make it before the Detroit Tigers would suggest as it stands that Leitch feels both organizations are further along in their respective turnarounds.

In the article linked above, the rationale behind the 2028 showdown is puzzling:

The Dodgers haven’t been mentioned in a while, but there’s no doubt they’ll be good every year this decade. We don’t know many players who will for sure still be on the roster by then, but we know Mookie Betts (signed through 2032) will, which means they’ll be a force to be reckoned with. The Tigers are too proud a franchise who will have turned it around by this point behind all the young pitching they are cultivating now.

Being too proud to lose is quite the proposal for an organization that has done a lot of, well, losing as of late. However, I do understand what he means. It is hard to imagine a Detroit Tigers franchise that sacrificed years of suffering in exchange for sunnier days to never make those competitive years happen.

The more perplexing is the reference to young pitching and how they will be the lynchpin to the Detroit Tigers’ contention. Presuming both Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal make the opening day roster for 2021, they would only be under team control through the 2026 season. That means the Tigers would have to extend both, and possibly Matt Manning and Joey Wentz as well if Leitch feels their wave of pitching will be a contributing factor to their World Series appearance.

This is not to say that any would not be worthy of an extension in the future, but there is so much with pitchers that can change across six seasons–see Michael Fulmer, Matthew Boyd, and Daniel Norris. It is a fun exercise and one that is designed not to be taken too seriously anyway, but I’d be fine if the Detroit Tigers found a World Series sooner than seven seasons from now.