ALL DECADE TIGERS

Another team that sadly won't be anyone from the 2019 Set to their ranks is the Detroit Tigers. However, the Tigers don't need anyone from 2019 to put together a complete and absolutely lethal collection of talent! In fact, the Tigers barely needed anyone from the last four seasons, only taking four guys from 2016-2019 for the squad. Instead, this team is loaded with talented players from 2011-2014, the prime years that the Tigers made runs at the World Series.

Obvious inclusions on the team are MVP Verlander, MVP Miggy Cabrera, and Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. There are some fun guys who the Tigers picked up later, particularly Victor Martinez, Prince Fielder, and Ian Kinsler. The bullpen is also stacked. Also, thank you to those who voted for the last two roster spots, which went to Doug Fister and Alex Wilson 2018. Follow me on Twitter at @MLBShowdown2016 for future polls -- I'm letting the fans pick the player at the most contentious/difficult final position battles!

Also again, major shout out to Matthew Pennertz and Colby Tallafus for their great card creating -- you'll see lots of their cards in here too! So without further ado, let's check out the Tigers!

MVP/Cy Young Justin Verlander is too OP with 8 IP in this early stab at him I took at card creating

Oh, and this little "All Decade" squad is coming in at a "mere" INSERT points!!!


LINEUP: The All Decade Tigers lineup will be a case study towards that age old Showdown question -- how important is speed? Sure, leading off is 2012 Austin Jackson (Colby's chart, absolutely lethal leadoff or #2 hitter for playoff bound Detroit in the 11/12 combo league my friends and I had) with his 22 speed and massive triple range... but after that, only one player above speed B(15). Since the Tigers philosophy must therefore shift to mashing guys in and around, I put superb DH Victor Martinez (Colby chart) in the 2-hole. Yes, he's slow... but I figure Jackson will steal frequently to minimize double plays, whereas anyone else in this lineup will present a huge liability issue in front of Victor. With Victor's greatest weakness minimized, this OB 10, BB at 3 slugger can put up BIG numbers in front of a frontrunner for MVP, 2012 Miguel Cabrera (I have Miggy and Prince in Colby's original card design in color, but I remade them a while back since they're gorgeous cards). Cabrera has easy 40 HR power, a great doubles range, and some useful 3B defense. I put another power hitter in the cleanup spot, although a case could be made for the dependable OB 10, BB at 3 Prince Fielder there. JD will obviously have a lower OBP, but his dominant power is too tempting not to give it more cracks at opposing pitchers. Fielder represents a reliable #5 hitter and should get plenty of RBIs in that role. While I give Detroit's top 5 hitters an edge over the Marlins top 5, their lineup begins to fade while Florida/Miami just kept rolling out OB 9, HR at 17 hitters. Castellanos is a gem of an OB 8 with his double at 12 and Kinsler is an all-around solid OB 8 hitter, but both guys may struggle to find consistent production against all the Control 5 and 6 pitchers that make up the league. Avila brings an OB 10 to the 8 slot (maybe he should move up?), but his lack of OOMF on his chart made him feel like a reliable bottom of the order-type guy. Peralta is similar as a very pedestrian OB 9 hitter, essentially a slightly weaker Brian Anderson down there. However, if he can get a .350ish OBP, that's great lineup depth. Overall... it's all going to come down to whether or not the top OB 10 hitters can slug enough to support the sporadic production from the lower four.

Overall, this lineup comes in at a whopping 3530 points. However, that's 360 points less than the Marlins lineup!!

ROTATION: The Tigers rotation is going to be much lauded for its two-headed, Cy Young filled monster with 2011 Justin Verlander and 2014 Max Scherzer. Verlander is a Tier 1, Pedro 00 type card that'll utterly dominate. His card is presented in its originally created form by Colby and Co. Meanwhile, Scherzer put up three straight Tier 2, C6 on at 16 cards from 2012 thru 2014. However, he finally got that IP 7 in 2014 and so that's the one that made the All Decade team. The number three starter is another Tier 2, the deadly Anibal Sanchez! Sanchez's Control 3 will scare some managers, but that 1-18 out makes him a force. Yes, he's going to have the occasional bad inning in this league... but something tells me that with this bullpen, the All Decade Detroit squad will be able to mitigate the bad outings and maximize the positive from him. The winner of our twitter poll by a wide margin, Doug Fister and his fairly standard C4, Tier 3 card takes the fourth slot in the rotation in large part because of his no doubles, 7-13 GB chart. With a +11 infield, that meshes extremely well with this squad! The rotation is a massive 2250 points.

BULLPEN: The Tigers bring out a Tier 1, three tier 2, and a tier 3 reliever from the bullpen. Alburquerque is the obvious "whoa" pitcher from the bunch as a Control 6, on at 17 pitcher with no doubles allowed. I think a lot of players are going to love having TWO Control 6, no doubles guys to utilize, really taking the strain off of Anibal Sanchez or Doug Fister to go deep into games. Benoit and Shane Greene are no slouches either, bringing stellar Tier 2 cards that'll hold down most offenses. The winner of the final vote for entry onto the squad, Alex Wilson 2018 brings good Control to help out in dire times but, considering the high IP top of the rotation and the four incredible relievers above him, I don't see him pitching many innings in the All Decade League!

We are now TWO teams into the All Decade squads and whoa, it's been back-to-back powerhouse teams. The Tigers end up clocking in at 6710 points as a squad (which shows how unnecessary my idea for an 8000 point salary cap was haha). The teams heavy reliance on players from 2011 thru 2014 demonstrates what serious contenders Detroit was, and it really is a shame that they couldn't close the deal (especially in 2012). So far, here's the point total rankings that I'll update each time (short list so far):

1.   Florida/Miami Marlins, 6750 points
2.   Detroit Tigers,               6710 points

Going to be super interesting to see if anyone can crack 7000 points (my money is on the Phillies, Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, Nationals, Astros, and Cubs).