The 2047 Tigers finally broke the curse

[LuScorpio68]

Hello,

This will be the story of my Detroit Tigers save, a save I started back in July and, after 25 seasons played, I finally managed to give the city of Detroit its 5th World Series in Franchise history. Hopefully, as I update this in the future, this team will become a bigger dynasty and I'll be able to tell its tale.

So, despite missing the playoffs only 4 times since 2028, and making it to the World Series 4 times, what happened to make the wait so long ? Well, the first few seasons were rough. Limited by bad contracts and very hit or miss drafting, it took until 2026 to get back to .500 and 2028 to get back to the postseason. During that stretch, many of the young players you might know in real life came up to Detroit, such as Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Parker Meadows and Justin-Henry Malloy, and though they all became good, neither of them became a superstar, or a player good enough to call the face of the franchise. As 2028 was around the corner, a trade that could have seemed like a huge undersell (or overpay, depending on the POV), brought the Tigers its franchise cornerstone for the next 15 seasons [to be continued].

[LuScorpio68]

That face of the Franchise became infielder Reginald Preciado. In real life, you might recognize this name from being part of the trade that sent Yu Darvish from the Cubs to the Padres, being part of the package the Cubs received.

Anyway, Preciado was showing superstar potential as a Cub, but had struggled in his rookie season. A big challenge of the Tigers as GM was being limited in how many of your players you could extend beyond their arbitration years due to a lack of a huge budget. As Riley Greene would be entering his final year before free agency, he had been good, but not a superstar by any means (890 games, 112 Home Runs, 114 OPS+, 16.6 WAR in 6 seasons). With younger outfielders ready for the majors, I took the decision to trade him alongside 1B/2B/OF Jace Jung, who had shown flashes but never found consistency in Detroit (271 Games, 34 Home Runs, 107 OPS+, 2.1 WAR in 3 partial seasons) and three other prospects for Preciado and most of Dansby Swanson remaining contract.

The prospects never became much, only one of them reaching the majors and only for a couple of years. Riley Greene had a good season in Chicago before leaving in Free Agency (156 games played, 17 Home Runs, 121 OPS+, 3.3 WAR). Jace Jung spent 5 seasons with the Cubs and again struggled to find consistency (718 games, 105 Home Runs, 111 OPS+, 9.1 WAR) before breaking out in his contract year (149 games, 28 Home Runs, 148 OPS+, 4.6 WAR) and leaving for the White Sox the next winter.

For the Tigers however, it was a masterclass. Swanson spent 4 seasons with Detroit and was a great locker-room Captain alongside being a gold glove caliber SS in his mid-30s. Preciado, who split time between 1B, 3B and DH before moving to 1B permanently in 2031, broke out in 2029 after a rough 2028. You can see the stats in the picture, but from 2029 to 2042, a 14 season stretch, Preciado hit at least 29 Home Runs every single season. A 13-time All-Star and 9 time Gold Glover at 1B, Preciado won MVP at age 36, tying Hank Greenberg's Tigers single season home run record of 58, and then again at age 38 after moving to DH and hitting 55 Home Runs.

As a Tiger, Preciado played 15 total seasons, playing in 2295 games, recording 2386 hits, hitting a Tigers record 558 Home Runs for the club for a 139 OPS+ and 58.3 WAR. His number 14 is retired by the club and he looks like a great candidate to make the Hall of Fame. [To be continued]

[LuScorpio68]

With a Superstar like this, you may ask how it was possible not to win a World Series during his playing career. Well, the first reason is budget difficulties. Like in real life, Chris Illitch limits how much he invests in the team, and thus the Tigers never had a budget in the top half of MLB during Preciado's career.

Another limiting factor was the fact the Tigers were rarely able to keep other stars to pair with him in the lineup. There were very good players like OF Juan Parra (2027 to mid-2032, 758G, 110 HRs, 118 OPS+, 21.1 WAR), 2B/3B Frank Contreras (2032 to 2037, 910 G, 206 HRs, 140 OPS+, 27.7 WAR) and 2B Edgar Flores (2034 to 2040, 893 G, 160 HRs, 126 OPS+, 20.2 WAR). However, Preciado's 12 year/320 million dollar contract and contracts allocated to pitchers made it difficult to retain those stars, and to present a consistent core of hitters from year to year. Drafting generally low in the first round during that stretch, never falling below .500, made it harder to find superstars through the draft, and apart from the mentionned Contreras and Flores, most of the International Amateur Free Agent signings struggled to make a real impact.

Due to these facts, it meant the Tigers had to find a balance between building and competing, and unfortunately were never able to make it to the top. It didn't help that they had to face a dynasty from the Washington Nationals, who won three titles in that stretch, the Baltimore Orioles who won twice, and the Oakland A's who only won once but made the World Series 3 times and were the Tigers's biggest rival in the AL for most of that stretch from 2028 to 2042.

Still, the Tigers managed to make the World Series four times themselves, but were beaten in 2029 by the Mets, in 2034 by the Braves, in 2036 by the Nationals and in 2040 by the Padres.

[LuScorpio68]

The biggest symptom of trying to balance competing and building was, as I said, found through some of the transactions made during my tenure as GM. The biggest example of this would be Woody Warford.

Coming into the 2041 season, the Tigers wanted a young bat to solidify the middle infield and possibly find a long-term solution at SS. In a trade with the Reds, the Tigers acquired the then 24 year old 2B/SS Warford, alongside RHP Jim Arp and RHP Daniel Cardinaz, the later being cut almost immediately, for OF Chris Ballew, and prospects OF Joe Columbia, RHP Dave Phillips and RHP Stephon McZeal. Ballew (with Detroit : 2036 to 2040 : 691 G, 92 HRs, 125 OPS+, 23.9 WAR), who had two years left before free agency, had led the league in Triples 4 times as a Tiger and led the league in Runs and Stolen Bases one time each. Like OF Joe Columbia, Ballew was considered expendable due to the high amount of OF talent in the Tigers system at the time.

For the Tigers, Arp played 4 and a half seasons from 2041 to 2045, appearing in 101 games, including 86 as a starter, and recorded 4.3 WAR in 478.2 innings for a 97 ERA+. Arp, who was supposed to be a 3 or 4 starter, struggled with injuries for most of his Tigers tenure and was traded midway through 2045 for two players who never appeared in the majors as Tigers. Warford played 4 years in Detroit, playing in 571 games, recording only 14 Home Runs, but he hit 24 triples, led the league in doubles with 60 in 2044 and led the league in steals 3 times, recording 178 in total to only 23 caught stealings for a WAR of 18.9.

For the Reds, Ballew wasn't the same player as he was with the Tigers (305 G, 38 HRs, 100 OPS+, 4 WAR). Joe Columbia became a solid starting OF immediately after the trade before settling in more of a 4th OF role (775 games although only 594 started, 90 HR, 116 OPS+, 14.5 WAR) and remains a Red through 2047. Both pitching prospects, who were seen as expendable since Arp was supposed to take the role destined for one of them, exceeded expectations. Phillips debuted in 2042 (193 G, 180 GS, 121 ERA+, 18.2 WAR) and became a top of the rotation starter the Tigers could have definitely used, whereas McZeal debuted the same year and became a comparable player to Jim Arp with better health (144 G, 143 GS, 99 ERA+, 7.2 WAR). Both, like Columbia, remained Reds players through 2047.

The Tigers suffered a huge loss with that trade, but the trade that sent Warford away was just as bad. Seeing their window dwindle after Preciado's departure and seeing Warford one year away from free agency with minimal chances of the Tigers being able to retain him, Warford was traded away to the Rangers for 2B Humberto Morales and 1B Luis Damas.

Warford only stayed a year in Texas (154 G, 8HR, 118 OPS+, 5.9 WAR) before signing a huge deal with the Yankees. However, Damas still hasn't reached the majors and seems unlikely to do so at this point, and Morales, who was supposed to be a potential star and to fill Warford's spot at 2B immediately, only played two seasons in Detroit, playing in 219 games but only starting 144, recording only 13 HRs, a 75 OPS+ and -0.2 WAR. Basically, the Tigers gave a solid 2B rental to an AL rival and got nothing in return.

This series of trades is part of the reason why the Tigers ended up bottoming out in 2045, but we'll get to that.

[Thread to be continued]