Game 25 Open Thread: Tigers at Indians

Indians fans, you’ve seen this before.

An aging team with over-the-hill veterans struggles to find lost glory by turning to a promising rookie who may or may not be ready. Of course, the rookie is not a top-shelf phenom. He’s the best that could be acquired through the trade of a flawed by still-valuable star.

What’s different here is that it is the Detroit Tigers who are going down that dark path, not the Indians.

The phenom is Michael Fulmer, generally regarded as the Tigers best prospect. He was acquired when the Tigers accepted the reality of their 2015 failure and the likelihood that Yeonis Cespedes would never be the player they had hoped. Cespedes went to the Mets for Fulmer. The right-hander was on a hot streak in the minors but had gone into the 2015 season as just the 13th-ranked Mets prospect, according to Baseball America.

The Tigers have consistently spent far more than would be expected in their market, mainly because their aging owner, Pizza Man Mike Ilitch, wanted a World Series trophy before he dies. Does anyone really think the Detroit market is so much bigger than Cleveland that it can afford Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander?

The Tigers hoped that World Series would come true in 2015 but ended the season without Cespedes and a new general manager.

I’m sure many Cleveland fans wish the Indians had an owner who would go out and spend his money to give them dream season. The Tigers demonstrate how that can go all wrong, with money spent but value not received. As a result, theTigers must put their hopes on mid-level prospects, just as the Indians often do. Today we get a look at how well that is working for Detroit.