It's amazing how quickly paradigms can change.

Last year at this time, most of us were hoping for .500, maybe a shot at contending for the wildcard, but very few even thought that was possible.

We ended up basically winning the division (gave it away at the end) and making it all the way to the WS before gagging on errors by our pitching staff.

Fast forward to the 2007 season, and I find myself wondering about this question, "Is anything less than winning the World Series a disappointment?"

If I think about getting there again, and losing again, I have to say yes.

Glenn:
Although I voted "no", based on it being so unexpected last year, I can see your point.
It was a weird season, no one seemed to have the outstanding year that they might not be able to duplicate, and they are a young team that should get better.
But I can't see Rogers going 17-6 again, and I wonder if they have someone after Bonderman and Verlander who can.
I like the Sheffield move, and hope he can go for 35/110, giving them a spot in the batting lineup that can't be pitched around.
I like their chances, but they are in the strongest division in baseball, and the teams in the central division are going to beat each other up all season.
Whatever happens, it should be fun.

It's tough in baseball. A good season would be a good season, and the central is too tough. We could win 95 and still not make the P-offs.

That's exactly what worries me. You can have a great season but in our division that doesn't guarantee squat.

Rogers on the 15 dy DL with a "fatigued arm".
He's going to miss his pre season start today. What I'm wondering is how much a 43 yeard old guy really needs that many starts in spring training, or if he needs much at all.

nope. a pennant race is good enough for me. we're not the yankees. competitive baseball is still a shocker to me, as a tiger fan.

It's terribly difficult to win it all in baseball. So many fewer teams in the postseason. There are even possible situations in which the Tigers could miss the post-season and it still wouldn't be a bad year. They win 100+ and miss the playoffs, hard to be too ticked about that, but it could happen. As long as they play tough and don't tank down the stretch while competing down to the last days, it's still a decent step for a team that was in the position it was just a year ago.

Does anybody really think the Tigers can win 100 games in the Central division? They have to play the Twins, White Sox, and the Indians an awful lot.

someone on sportscenter today picked bondo to win the cy. that got me pumped as hell for the season.

Does anybody really think the Tigers can win 100 games in the Central division? They have to play the Twins, White Sox, and the Indians an awful lot.

And the Royals.

The four main ESPN experts (Gammons, Olney, Stark & Kurkjian) all picked the Tigers to win the division, FWIW.

Only one of the four (can't recall which one, probably Olney) has the Yankees even making the playoffs.

Not that I need to reiterate my position, but anything but the ring is going to be a disappointment for me this year. I know that it is tougher to maintain excellence in baseball, but when everyone can see that you have the best team and you don't win it all, that's a disappointment.

I'm pretty happy as long as we make the playoffs. The Tigers have been crappy for so long that I really appriciate the turn around. We have a good minor league system (finally) which should keep this team competetive for years to come and a team that has a chance to win it all for the next couple of years. Can we really ask for much more than that??? Now if only the Lions..............

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/gammons_peter_m.jpg Gammons
93-69
1st in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/stark_jayson_m.jpg Stark
97-65
1st in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/crasnick_jerry_m.jpg Crasnick
95-67
1st in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/olney_buster_m.jpg Olney
97-65
1st in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/neyer_rob_m.jpg Neyer
86-76
3rd in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/kurkjian_tim_m.jpg Kurkjian
95-67
1st in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/phillips_steve_m.jpg Phillips
97-65
1st in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/law_keith_m.jpg Law
85-77
3rd in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/caple_jim_m.jpg Caple
88-74
3rd in
AL Central

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/columnists/karabell_eric_m.jpg Karabell
90-72
1st in
AL Central

keith Law is a fag and dogged them all season last year. Called them a 162 game fluke and after every Yankee loss said it had nothing to do with our pitching.

I'm pretty sure Rob Neyer has the Red Sox winning both the AL East and the AL Central, maybe even the West too.

someone on sportscenter today picked bondo to win the cy. that got me pumped as hell for the season.

As long as Santana is pitching in the AL, nobody other than him is winning that award.


As far as the Tigers go, expecting them to make the WS for the 2nd year in a row is unrealistic, especially considering how competitive the AL is.

I realize they play in a tough division, but I think the Twins are over-rated (lost Radke and Liriano), the White Sox will suffer chemistry issues (any clubhouse with Ozzie will, eventually) and the Indians are still trying to get there after taking a step backward last year. The Royals are a gimme (except for the last week of the season) and our team has improved. Yes, a number of players had career years last season, but remember other things that happened as well.
- Polanco missed 50 games
- Thames had fewer than 350 AB's
- Granderson led the league in strikeouts
- We lost the AL ERA leader for the season

I think the depth on this team is better. We have Casey, one of the best gap hitters in the game, for a full year. We have freaking Gary Sheffield. We have reason to believe Granderson won't strike out as much. Jeremy Bonderman added a pitch.

Add all that to a team that won 95 games and I don't think 100 is out of the question. We can afford a few things that might be disasters to other teams. It wouldn't hurt us too bad if an outfielder went down for an extended period. Same goes for a 1B or starting pitcher (ok, losing another on top of Rogers might not be good, but with Ledezma and Miller I think we could still be ok). So I believe in terms of depth and balance this team is ready to run at the playoffs again. If they don't make it, it will ONLY be because so many other teams had amazing seasons.