Whoa there. Coming off one of the worst seasons in the history of professional baseball, and with the trade deadline approaching, the Tigers have decided to start talking playoffs. So much for the age of lowered expectations.

Now, the guy doing the talking is the All-Star catcher who led a barely-.500 team to the World Championship last year, but still. These fans have been losing for a decade. Why give them false hopes? Winning this year is nice, but being able to win the next two years — y’know, building something — would be even more heartwarming, not to mention turnstile turning.

Now, to be fair, the front office seems to be well aware of the Tigers place in the baseball universe.

“I’m used to waiting to see which way I’m going to go,” team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski told the Free Press.

“We have to be smart from the baseball side as to what’s best for the future,” manager Alan Trammell added. “The best course for us might be to let some young players play and develop, which could lead to some losses this year, but more victories next season and the season after that.”

And that’s what puts them on the fence between adding a player to make a run at the White Sox and Twins this year or adding a couple of players who might help next year.

I vote for young and exciting. Who needs pennant race pressure after getting knocked around for a whole season? Why make a move that heightens expectations for this year, only to fall short and give somebody, anybody a reason to consider this season a failure when its really been an unqualified success and a model for building a team and bringing along yound players.

Winning the Central isn’t the ultimate goal. It’s being able to contend with the Yankees, Red Sox and A’s. You don’t need to face them in the glare of October to know that this team needs to build another year.

This entry was posted in the following categories: Tigers