Detroit Tigers Trade Deadline Preview and Predictions

    

    With the MLB All-Star break approaching, this means that the trade deadline is also looming. July 30th is the MLB trade deadline. We are currently in 4th place in the AL Central at 44-49, 14 GB of the first-place Cleveland Guardians, and 7 GB of the AL Wild Card Spot. We have about 16 games left until the deadline against the Minnesota Twins. The rest of the games in this stretch are against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. Looking at this stretch of games, the AL Central could be very different come the deadline. The Tigers can win at least 10 of the next 16, putting us back over the .500 mark. There is an opportunity to hop the Royals for third in the division and if the Twins start to scuffle, move into second place. 

    This is where the real dilemma begins. If you are back over .500 and you think you have a real shot at making the playoffs, do you buy at the deadline? Or do you still sell and look forward to next year? Well, here is my opinion. I think, with the track record of our beloved Tigers, you need to be more sellers than buyers. You have a couple of expiring contracts that you can offload for decent returns. Below are a couple of those contracts, what they have done for the team so far this year and who I think they would be beneficial to go to for contending playoff teams.

1. SP Jack Flaherty: 1-year, $14,000,000 deal
• This past offseason, the Tigers made two signings for some veteran pitching in Kenta Maeda who has been an absolute flop, and Jack Flaherty who has been arguably the second-best pitcher for the Tigers this season, behind Tarik Skubal. So far this season, Flaherty has started 16 games for the Tigers, carrying a 6-5 record with a 3.13 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 95 innings pitched. After having a few rough seasons, it seems Flaherty has returned to his earlier form that allowed him to finish 5th in Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 and 4th in Cy Young voting in 2019. With this being said and the Tigers needing to get some help offensively, Flaherty is the perfect candidate to send in a deal to get that help.
• Potential Landing Spots: San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Boston Red Sox.
2. UTIL Gio Urshela: 1-year, $1,500,000 deal
• The Tigers added veteran utility man Gio Urshela in the offseason to help supplement the platoon of players that we have had playing third base the last few years. Urshela has had some injury issues but has still managed to amass a .257 batting average with 3 home runs and 27 RBIs in 66 games. While these are not massive numbers, this is a good, veteran bat that could be added to a team to allow its stars to rest coming down the stretch. Urshela has played third, shortstop, and most recently first base for the Tigers this year.
• Potential Landing Spots: Gio Urshela
3. OF/1B Mark Canha: 1 year, $11,500,000 deal
• The 35-year-old veteran bat was added to the Tigers in hopes he would provide a power spark for this lineup. At this point in the season, it has been a bit of a disappointment. Canha has hit .223 with 6 home runs and 34 RBIs. While I don't think we will find much of a market for this bat, he could be packaged with one of the aforementioned players to get a decent return.
• Potential Landing Spots: Philadelphia Phillies or Kansas City Royals
4. IF/OF Matt Vierling: 1 year, $766,000 (arbitration through 2027)
• Vierling was acquired in 2023 via a trade with the Phillies. Since joining the Tigers, Vierling has had flashes of greatness, being able to run well and hit well. This year has seen an uptick in the power numbers from Vierling as he has hit 12 home runs in 83 games, two more than he has all of 2023. With this power surge and contract control through 2027, Vierling could be a trade piece that no one sees coming.
• Potential Landing Spots: St. Louis Cardinals

State of Detroit Sports: 2024 Mid-Year Review: Part 4

Detroit Lions: Perennial Losers to Detroit's Best Chance at a Championship?

    For years, when you were to hear the name of the Detroit Lions, it would insight disappointment and embarrassment for most fans. We were the franchise known for never winning a Super Bowl, or even making it to the big dance. We were known for wasting, arguably, the single-greatest running back and single-greatest wide receiver in the history of the game in Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson. We were known for having the worst single-season record ever by going winless... 0-16. See even as I am writing these things on paper is raising my blood pressure.

    However, times are changing after years and years of failed rebuilds, horrible management and some of the worst coaching ever seen. We have finally found the perfect combination of that gutsy, hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners, kneecap-biting coach, and savvy drafting general manager in Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes. Since inheriting the team in 2021, Dan Campbell has gone on to record a 24-26-1 record in his first three seasons. It was a big disappointment in his first season with the team, as the team went 3-13-1. This was the first season after the huge Jared Goff-Matthew Stafford trade with the L.A. Rams.

    In his second season as head coach, Campbell would coach the team to a 9-8 record, starting the first half of the season going 2-6, they came back and went 7-2 in the last half of the season, showing major improvements. In his third season, Campbell would coach this team to a 12-5 record, winning the NFC North and taking them to the playoffs. The team would make it all the way to the NFC Championship, before losing to the San Francisco Giants. In just three short years, mainly through the draft, Brad Holmes as sculpted this team into a championship-caliber team. Holmes has drafted 2 first team all-pro players Penei Sewell and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Another pro-bowl-caliber talent Aidan Hutchinson was drafted by Holmes. Below is a breakdown of each of the drafts that Brad Holmes as completed, aside from this year.

2021 Draft:

• Round 1, Pick 7: OL Penei Sewell, Oregon
• Round 2, Pick 41: DL Levi Onwuzurike, Washington
• Round 3, Pick 72: DT Alim McNeill, North Carolina St.
• Round 3, Pick 101: Ifeatu Melifonwu, Syracuse
• Round 4, Pick 112: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC
• Round 4, Pick 113: DE Derrick Barnes, Purdue
• Round 7, Pick 257: RB Jemar Jefferson, Oregon St.

2022 Draft:

• Round 1, Pick 2: DE Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan
• Round 1, Pick 12: WR Jameson Williams, Alabama
• Round 2, Pick 46: DE Josh Paschal, Kentucky
• Round 3, Pick 97: DB Kerby Joseph, Illinois
• Round 5, Pick 177: TE James Mitchell, Virginia Tech
• Round 6, Pick 188: LB Malcolm Rodriguez, Oklahoma St.
• Round 6, Pick 217: LB James Houston, Jackson St.
• Round 7, Pick 237: DB Chase Lucas, Arizona St.

2023 Draft:

• Round 1, Pick 12: RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama
• Round 1, Pick 18: LB Jack Campbell, Iowa
• Round 2, Pick 34: TE Sam LaPorta, Iowa
• Round 2, Pick 45: DB Brian Branch, Alabama
• Round 3, Pick 68: QB Hendon Hooker, Tennessee
• Round 3, Pick 96: DT Brodric Martin, Western Kentucky
• Round 5, Pick 152: OL Colby Sorsdal, William & Mary
• Round 7, Pick 219: WR Antoine Green, North Carolina

    Bottom line is that the Lions are Detroit's best chance of winning a championship in this decade. If the team can repeat the success it had last year, and continue to have the best run-stopping team and a top-5 explosive offense, there is no reason that they can't make it back to the NFC Championship game. This team is going to be fun to watch and I for one can't wait. 

State of Detroit Sports: 2024 Mid-Year Review: Part 3

    

Detroit Red Wings: Fall from Grace, Back to the Top?

    Our beloved Detroit Red Wings, oh how you have fallen from grace. It has now been 8 years since the string of 25 straight playoff appearances for our most prolific sports franchise. The Red Wings made it to the playoffs every year from 1991-2016. In this period, the Wings would make 6 Stanley Cup finals, winning 4 in 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2008. Along with four championships, the Wings would boast some of the greatest hockey players in the history of the NHL. The likes of Darren McCarty, Kris Draper, Vladimir Konstantinov, Chris Chelios, Henrik Zetterberg, and of course, our current executive vice president and general manager, Steve Yzerman. This is just a short list of the greats that played during the 25-year run of excellence.

    After the 2016 season, the Red Wings would only get close to making the playoffs again, in the 2023 season. This past season, the Red Wings were in the playoff hunt down to the very last game of the season, getting eliminated by circumstances out of their control. I, personally, was able to attend the last home game of the 2023 season where the Wings, being down 4-2 going into the 3 period, would come back to win 5-4 in overtime with the game-tying and game-winning goals being scored by the young Lucas Raymond. The atmosphere in the Little Caesers Arena that night was amazing, really made you feel like the Red Wings were on the verge of getting back to the promise land. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

    However, this poses the question, will Steve Yzerman and company finally break through and put together a championship-contending team. After drafting the likes of our current captain, Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, Steve Yzerman would add Alex DeBrincat, who has been a top scorer in the league for many years, and Showtime Patrick Kane who would resign with the Red Wings this offseason.

    This offseason has been a headscratcher for a lot of fans. Signing two goalies, Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell, and trading Robbi Fabri for a third in Gage Alexander, leaving a question mark in the net. Steve Yzerman made another good veteran signing in Vladimir Tarasenko. It is still early in this offseason and there are many things to be happy about, but there are also many things to question. I believe that this season is a make it or break it season for the Wings to make a push to the playoffs. I believe in Steve Yzerman and his process, but I believe he may be running out of time in the eyes of some impatient fans. 

2023-24 Regular Season Team Leaders

• Games Played: Alex DeBrincat, Moritz Seider, and Lucas Raymond (82)
• Goals Scored: Dylan Larkin (33)
• Assists: Lucas Raymond (41)
• Points: Lucas Raymond (72)

State of Detroit Sports: 2024 Mid-Year Review: Part 2

The Detroit Pistons: Eternal Rebuild

    We have had two truly amazing periods in the history of the Detroit Pistons franchise. In the late 80s and early 90s, you had the Bad Boys of Basketball. Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and John Salley. This was the core of a team that was able to win back-to-back world championships in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons, these two seasons being in the middle of a run of making five straight conference finals appearances and making one other finals appearance in the 1987-88 season, falling short to the Magic Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers. 

    The second truly amazing period in Piston's franchise history was the mid-late 2000s. This saw the birth of the Going-To-Work Pistons. The Pistons would make a few playoff appearances between the 1989-90 championship and the eventual 2003-04 championship, but would only make it as far as the Eastern Conference finals once in this span, being in 2002-03. The 2002-03 offseason would see the Pistons make a few really good signings and perhaps the biggest mistake in the history of the NBA draft. Returning from the 2002-03 core were PG Chauncey Billups, SG Richard "Rip" Hamilton, and C Big Ben Wallace. The Pistons in the offseason before the 2003-04 season would add one of the most notoriously technically fouled player in NBA history, PF Rasheed Wallace. After coming off of the bench in his 2002-03 rookie season, Tayshaun Prince would emerge as the final piece to a starting five that would make history by becoming the first starting five in NBA history to all be voted to the All-Star game in the same year. 

    This 2003-04 team would make it all the way to the NBA finals and have to face the daunting Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers, shocking the world by winning the series in 5 games. This would begin a stretch of 5 straight Central Division banners and 6 straight playoff appearances, never being able to win the championship again. After this team was split up, the Pistons would begin a nearly 20-year rebuild in which they have made the playoffs just twice. The franchise would see, at this time, a venue change, leaving the historic Palace of Auburn Hills to play at Little Caesar's Arena in downtown Detroit. This franchise would also cycle through eight coaches and five general managers. This upcoming season will see both a new coach in J.B. Bickerstaff and a new GM in Trajan Langdon.

    The Pistons have had twelve lottery picks since the 2009-10 season. Of those twelve picks ten have been in the top-10 picks of the draft. We have seen the Pistons draft the likes of Andre Drummond, Luke Kennard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Killian Hayes with these lottery picks. Each of these players had varied levels of success with the Pistons before moving on to other teams. The latest set of draft picks has seen a trio of what could be a great young core for these struggling Pistons. These picks are Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Ausar Thompson. 

    This offseason we have already seen new GM Langdon make a pair of moves that is intriguing. He made a trade to acquire veteran guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and sign veteran forward Tobias Harris to a two-year deal. The last few years of the Troy Weaver GM era did not see an emphasis on signing veterans to support the young team we put together. Seeing Langdon make these moves has given me a bit of hope that he will try and make things different in Detroit and make Detroit Basketball relevant again. 

    It is hard to say when or if the Pistons will make the playoffs in the next 5 years. But, I believe these next 2 seasons will be crucial for us to make a run for the playoffs. Making the correct signings and correct draft day moves and picks will help bring Detroit Basketball to the once-great level we all grew up seeing. 

State of Detroit Sports: 2024 Mid-Year Review Series Part 1

 

    The state of the Big 4 Detroit Sports franchises has been bleak for a long time. That is however, up until this past winter when the Detroit Lions made their historic run to the NFC Championship game, a Detroit sports franchise had yet to make it to the playoffs since the 2019 Pistons and no Detroit Sports franchise had won a playoff game since the 2016 Red Wings. For the last decade and a half, each Detroit sports franchise has gone through at least two rebuilding periods, each franchise with varying, yet disappointing results. In this article, I am going to give my honest outlook on each franchise's chances at making the playoffs and winning a championship.

The Detroit Tigers: No clear direction

    Starting off with arguably the worst Detroit sports franchise in recent years, our beloved Detroit Tigers. If you are like me and are a major baseball fan, it has been quite the roller coaster of emotions watching the Tigers in the last 5 to 6 years. Over the last 5 years, we have seen the Tigers go from being the worst team in all of baseball in 2019, finishing the year at 47-114 to seeing arguably the greatest all-around right-handed hitter the game has ever seen in Miguel Cabrera hit major milestones in the twilight of his career, and ultimately make the decision to walk away from the game as a player at the end of the 2023 season. 

    2020 is a bit of an afterthought for me due to the shortened season with the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 was the first full year back for MLB after the pandemic and it saw the Tigers finish third in the AL Central division with a 77-85 record. We saw a couple of our young pitching prospects start to emerge as players in the majors with the first full seasons for Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal. The 2022 season saw the debut of our number-one overall pick in the 2020 first-year player draft, Spencer Torkleson. He showed flashes of the power we drafted him for, but ultimately struggle through the course of the year. This was also the first year of the albatross of a contract for our everyday "superstar" shortstop, Javier Baez. I said it when the signing was made, and I stand by it today, we made the wrong signing at shortstop in that offseason.

    The 2023 season saw the breakout sophomore seasons of Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter. It also saw the emergence of Tarik Skubal as a possible ace of this staff, ultimately these Tigers finished second in the division at 78-84. Coming into the 2024 season, there were a lot of high hopes that this team could run away with the division, however, it has been more of the same. The veteran signing of Kenta Maeda has not paid off. Casey Mize returning after being out for a season and a half with injuries just isn't the ace we thought we were getting when we drafted him. Torkelson and Carpenter have had struggles. The only bright spots have been the emergence of Tarik Skubal as a potential Cy Young candidate in the American League, Riley Greene being a big threat in the lineup being able to hit for both average and power, and the signing of Jack Flaherty being a solid contract, looking like he could be the next great strikeout artist in the Major League.

    Despite all of that, these Tigers currently sit in fourth place in the division at 38-46, on pace for another sub-.500 finish and missing the playoffs. It seems to me that, with Chris Illitch at the head of this team, we are not going to spend the money required to field a championship-caliber team anytime in the near future. We are once again going to squander the young, promising careers of Riley Greene and Tarik Skubal and get nothing in return while we can. I do not see the Tigers making the playoffs, let alone winning a championship in the next 5 years.

Bright spots of the 2024 Detroit Tigers

1. Tarik Skubal: 9-3, 2.32 ERA, 97 IP, 112 K, 19 BB

2. Riley Greene: .253 BA, .831 OPS, 15 HR, 41 RBI.

3. Jack Flaherty: 5-5, 3.24 ERA, 89 IP, 115 K, 14 BB