If there was any doubt that the Tigers were done, this week should have put those doubts to rest.  The Tigers drop five of seven through series against the Jays and Orioles and things ended on a particularly ugly note this afternoon with a 16-8 drubbing at the hands of the Orioles.  The end result is a 4-6 record over the Tigers ten game home stand and this was a stretch where they would have had to go 8-2 to stay in things.  From this point on, I’m no longer looking at the standings because from the Tigers perspective, their chances of making the playoffs are pretty much zero.

In the meantime, the White Sox and Twins, two teams I had pegged to be at the bottom of the standings back in April, are in a dead tie for the division title.  For more comedy, check out who I predict to win the NL Central.  At least it looks like I picked the AL ROY correctly.  Anyway, the Tigers still play a series each against the White Sox and Twins as well as a series against the Rays so they could still have a small impact in who makes the playoffs and who doesn’t.  Unfortunately, there’s a lot of games against the Indians and a lot of games against the Royals so my bet is, you begin to see more sparse crowds at the ballpark.  They’ll still set the attendance record, but only because the tickets have already been sold.

The Tigers head to Texas for three games and they’ll have to contend with the best offense in baseball.  We’ll also see if the Tigers pull of another trade or two to begin positioning themselves for next year.  I’m not sure who’s cleared waivers (as far as I know, there’s no real way for an outside to know) but it wouldn’t surprise me if Dave Dombrowski pulls the trigger on a deal.  Kenny Rogers goes up against Scott Feldman and you have two guys who’s combined ERA is ten.  I think we’ll see some offense tomorrow considering Leyland will have to ride Rogers since we used five pitchers.

Permalink | Posted in 2008 Tigers