Detroit is 50-53 after suffering through several injuries and when they finally start to get healthy they waive the white flag....why?
Detroit probably wasn't going to do anything but neither are the Blowjays or Rangers. If you get into the playoffs, who knows what can happen. Wild Card teams have been dangerous.
It was obvious a couple games after the all star break that Detroit was giving up. It isn't just starting now. They put in their worst pitchers when the game was tied or down by 1 couple games into 2nd half and repeatedly lost. The manager left those pitchers out and it was clear that the manager's "fight" wasn't there at all anymore. Haven't bet on Detroit since (doesn't mean I fade them though).
The pitching staff is a mess and the GM and Manager know it. They reached in the cupboard and found jack shit in prospects in there farm systems. I was surprised too since Mike Illitch is like 1000 years old and he has been dropping millions for another World Series. As a Tigers fan I am actually happy they grabbed some very nice pieces for the future and didn't just squeak a wildcard just to get knocked out since they can't win a series.