Tigers enter the Jake red hot, but I think the pitching match ups favor the tribe:

 

Rogers vs. Byrd

Verlander vs. Westbrook

Robertson vs. CC

 

I think the Tigers have to sweep to have a shot at winning the division.

 

I can't help but feel that the Tigers last chance to make the playoffs will come down to the last weekend in Chicago. The yankees have baltimore, toronto and tampa bay to finish out the season. They should cruise, but Detroit could pick up a game or two and be one back heading into the last weekend of play. While I have no love for cleveland, I would love to see the kitties get eliminated in Chicago...walk off on Sunday by Paulie would be nice, too.

It's a near impossibility that the Tigers win the division at this point -- five out in the loss column with two weeks left is just too much to overcomebarring a miracle.

 

I'll be rooting for Cleveland because I have money on them -- amazingly enough, both them and the Padres were getting better than 8-to-1 to win the Series, by far the best odds of any (realistic) playoff contender. I think Cleveland is going to be very tough to beat, as Sabathia and Carmona are the best one-two punch currently going in baseball. Playoff baseball also has a new (stupid) schedule that allows for more time off, so teams might be able to get by with a three-man rotation now.

The main reason the Tigers won't see October this year.... the White Sox own them, and did last year too.

I'm really hoping the Tigers can somehow win the wild card. It's too bad the yankees have a real easy schedule coming up, although Baltimore has played them pretty well this year.

What a tank job. Looks like they're doing their best to follow the trajectory of the 06 Sox - win 90 games and finish out of the running. I just hope their '08 is like our '07.

At least we took advantage of "the window"

 

Yes indeed. If I were a kitties fan I'd still be cringing at the thought of losing to the cardinals in FIVE. One lousy win against one of the weakest teams the NL had to offer.

 

Bonderman is showing arm strain and that's not good for someone so young. At the start of the season they said he was one pitch away from being an ace, and I agreed. But now, his future is kind of cloudy. If Zumaya and Rodney round back into form then they should be no worse than middle of the pack.

 

I also think the twins are in for a swoon, the Royals will be .500 or better. The Sox are old but I'm confident KW will try to improve on that over the winter.

I have absolutely no idea what to think about the AL Central going into next year. With the right moves and a s***load of luck, I could see KC even winning the division; it's just so f'ing wide open right now that I don't know who to even think of as the favorite.

I wonder how much of an effect the long season had on all of the guys who had never done it before. It is amazing how identical our 05->06 is to their 06->07.

I have absolutely no idea what to think about the AL Central going into next year. With the right moves and a s***load of luck, I could see KC even winning the division; it's just so f'ing wide open right now that I don't know who to even think of as the favorite.

I absolutely agree with this, especially if they can get off to a good start. I like to think the Sox can't play any worse than they did this year, but if the moves don't come this winter, it won't be much of an improvement.