Article: Beating Vegas: The Detroit Tigers

[John Bonnes]

Show us you can beat Vegas and you can win a Harry’s Razor starter kit! An injury to Justin Verlander before the season proved to be a prescient omen. The Tigers struggled to get on track in the first half, fell apart around the All-Star Break, sold at the trade deadline, replaced their GM and reloaded in the offseason.Vegas’ Line: 81.5 wins

 

What The Line Is Saying

"This team is old and getting older. We’ll stick with you one more year, but we’re tempering expectations.”

 

They’ll Beat Vegas If…

Everybody remains healthy and productive. The names in this lineup are impressive: Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and the newly signed Justin Upton. So are the names at the top of the rotation: Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, and Jordan Zimmerman. The problem is that they're less than 25% of the roster.

 

 If you beat Vegas, you can win a free Harry’s Razor starter set. Just leave a comment with your choice of the “Over” or” Under” and your reasoning. At the end of the season, for each team, we’ll randomly pick one of the winning predictions for a free Truman Razor set. [hr]

 

They’ll Lose To Vegas If…

… the superstars don’t carry the rest of the team. If they slip there is no net to catch them. That’s especially true because manager Brad Ausmus’s status with the team is shaky too. It was widely rumored that he would be let go at the end of last season – possible for Ron Gardenhire – but he is returning to try to right the old (and getting older) ship.

 

I’ll Bet The….

UNDER

It’s not that they can’t put it all together for one more year; I’m just not going to bet on it. There are just too many land mines waiting to out there – age, injuries, lame duck coaching - and the competitive division should wear them down.

 

 Now it’s your turn. Give us your prediction in the comment section (you’ll need to register first) and you’re automatically entered. We’ll be giving out a free Harry’s Razor Truman Set to one of the winning correct predictions for each team, so we’ll be give away 15 sets of razors! You can also click over to Harry’s Razors and get $5 off on your first order using the promo code ‘gleeman’. 

 

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[Brock Beauchamp]

I didn't like the Tigers last season and I certainly don't like them this season.

 

Under.

[Willihammer]

Under too. They were a 69 win team by Pythagoras last year.  They are swapping David Price, Alfredo Simon, and Yoenis Cespedes for Zimemrman, Pelfrey, and Upton. A wash at best. The bullpen looks a bit better, the lineup looks older. Not much farm to speak of. Pretty easy under IMO.

[Mike Sixel]

Over, one last gasp.

[Wookiee of the Year]

Willihammer said it best.

 

Under.

[Vanimal46]

I'm with Mike on the over. Some how they'll find a way to sneak over .500 before their lineup completely falls apart from old age. 

[alanwil2]

Under.  I think they will mail it in this year.

 

[pbrezeasap]

Under. I think they start slow the first month, culminating in a sweep at the hands of the Twins at Target Field, and then never recover. 

[big dog]

Under.  They will try hard, but Ausmus won't work miracles and age/injuries will be relentless.

[alarp33]

Over. 

 

I'm actually surprised how many people are down on the Tigers on this board.  Keep in mind, this was a .500 team last year at the All Star break before giving up.  I think Castellanos has a breakout year, they score a ton of runs. Anibal Sanchez bounces back somewhat, same with Victor Martinez, they've got a solid top 2 in the rotation, a much better bullpen, Daniel Norris on the way.  Also with all the aging roster, I think they have tons of incentive to go for it this year if they are in it at the break.

 

I'll say somewhere between 84-87 wins, not enough to win the division but in Wild card race to the end

[bird]

I'm risking my entire savings and am in the "one last gasp" camp, so over.  84 wins. Their #6, #7, and #8 starters are Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd, and Michael Fulmer, not too shabby, and they'll probably need all three very very badly, because at least one of Verlander, Sanchez, and Zimmerman is bound to go down, and Pelfrey and Shane Greene are weak at the back of the rotation. If they suffer two lineup injuries of any duration? The under by a few games.

[Jrfabian6]

Under.  Time to blow it up and start over.

[biggentleben]

I really like Daniel Norris and Michael Fulmer as guys who can pitch well in 2016 at the back of the rotation. The thing not mentioned yet here is this may be the best depth in the bullpen they've had in a long time. Pairing Saltalamacchia with McCann behind the plate will be a much better pairing than Avila with McCann. Justin Upton is a tremendous upgrade to a lineup over Yoenis. I think the team is in the hunt in July. I just don't know that they have any bullets to use to address issues that need fixing in July.

[TheLeviathan]

Over

[spinowner]

Under.

[tobi0040]

I think age kills you a few ways. Injuries, you can't play the way you used to, and defense.

 

This is a team that is going to be like the Bulls and Celtics without the rings and I think last year was just the first year of the cycle.

[David Zeller]

I like the Under, this team is set to implode