Detroit Tigers Just Outside of Top 10 in Way-Too-Early Power Rankings
The Detroit Tigers made an unlikely late-season run into the postseason which began just days after selling off the veterans at the MLB trade deadline.
With a 52-56 record entering deadline day, and only 54 games left to play while sitting 13.0 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the American League Central Division and 6.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the third American League Wild Card berth, the Tigers did not have great expectations for the remainder of their 2024 campaign.
Just two months and a 34-20 run later, Detroit found itself holding that coveted third Wild Card berth and having a bite at the apple in October, much earlier in their rebuild than anyone expected.
In a recent article from The Athletic, Stephen J. Nesbitt, Rustin Dodd, and C. Trent Rosecrans gave their way-too-early power rankings for teams entering the 2025 season, ranking the Tigers 11th.
"Can the Tigers keep building on their torrid second half and first playoff appearance in a decade?" asks Dodd, "They certainly are positioned to. Almost the entirety of their roster will return — and the names are no longer quite as anonymous."
The biggest name to leave the roster this year was Jack Flaherty, and he was one of the pieces moved at the trade deadline.
Bonafide ace Tarik Skubal continued the dominance that he returned from Tommy John surgery with in 2023, pitching his way to being the all but guaranteed American League Cy Young Award winner on the back of winning the American League Triple Crown.
Outfielder Riley Greene had a breakout campaign, batting .262/.348/.479 on the year with 24 home runs, 74 RBI, and a 133 OPS+ across 584 plate appearances in 137 games while also earning his first career All-Star nod.
Detroit does still have one of the worst players in Major League Baseball on the roster, and at a hefty price, in Javier Baez, and the team showed what it is capable of when he is not around, playing to a 45-37 record in games that Baez did not participate in, including a 24-10 run that started on August 23rd and helped propel the team into the playoffs.
The Tigers have a promising young roster that took big steps in their development this season while also getting postseason experience.
With most of that roster returning for 2025, the future is bright and we could witness an even greater showing from the team.
