World Series or bust y’all! Ok, this is baseball. It’s a rare team that can actually expect to win a World Series title in a given year. Even the highest projected odds for the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series again this year are only 27.3 percent, and by baseball standards those are incredibly good odds. Only the Mariners, Mets, and for some reason, the Braves, even have odds a little over seven percent to win the World Series.
Of course, fan isn’t short for “reasonable observer”
and there’s no reason not to let your hopes fly as high as possible, as long as you can deal with the likelihood of them getting dashed on the rocks as usual. In the past two weeks, the Tigers have added roughly 3 wins to their projections, depending which system you ask, by replacing Reese Olson with Framber Valdez and then bulking up the rotation with Justin Verlander. The effect of that influx of talent and depth should improve the bullpen as well and keeps replacement level pitchers from having to cover innings.
For myself, it’s time the Tigers won the AL Central for one, and it would be a failure of the season if they don’t. Beyond that, they’ve been deep in the ALDS each of the past two seasons. If they could finally win through, I’d ultimately be pretty happy with the season, even assuming that a crushing defeat lies ahead in the ALCS or World Series. If they could even get to the World Series it would be a huge success after a 14 year absence.
How about you? It’s tough knowing this is their likely last shot with Tarik Skubal leading the way. Players have to take a World Series or bust approach publicly, and fans certainly can live or die with their club wanting to win it all. But, what would constitute a successful 2026 season in your mind?
