The Detroit Tigers have been a respectable team in the MLB for the past eleven years and have always been praised by fans all around Michigan. However, the Detroit Tigers are obviously struggling in the 2017 season. With a record of 59-80 (on September 7, 2017), the Tigers are mathematically eliminated from playoffs. This is not at all normal for the Detroit Tigers ball club. In fact, the Tigers have had a .500 winning-percentage season for nine out of the past eleven years. During this run the Tigers have had six playoff appearances with four division titles and two American League championships.

Despite the worst season the Tigers have had in the past 13 years, the organization has realized that its going downhill with an old aged team and no bullpen. The Tigers, however, have taken steps in the right direction. Detroit is in what Ken Rosenthal, one of the top MLB analysts and reporters on MLB Network, calls a “rebuilding stage.” The Tigers have traded away most of their star players this season. For example, J.D. Martinez to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Justin Upton to the L.A. Angels, Justin Wilson and Alex Avila to the Chicago Cubs, and Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros.

All of these players were traded for the same exact things, money and prospects. This is what the “rebuilding stage” is all about, trading star players for young talent and money to afford to pay the rising stars. This is a step in the right direction, although it isn’t a pretty one. This stage means that all of the young prospects go to the minor leagues and the Tigers will have a below average major league team. “The Detroit Tigers are in a full rebuilding stage and are going to have a very frustrating next three years,” Ken Rosenthal said on MLB Network. So, to all the Detroit Tigers fans out there, be patient. Greatness is on its way.