Perhaps it's time to hold the team more accountable, by giving some of the team's true prospects a chance at the Big Leagues, lighting a fire under some of the current Tigers.
"I think the thing the Tigers really need to do is bring up some of their actual prospects from Toledo and push them a little bit and give them experience in the Major Leagues," 97.1 The Ticket’s Pat Caputo said. "I think one of more underrated aspects of player development is actually learning to play the game against Major League players."
Caputo says the likes of shortstop Willi Castro and catcher Jake Rogers would benefit from seeing some Major League pitching, which in turn creates competition amongst the team.
"And if they don't do well, send them back to the Minor Leagues," Caputo said. "This thing about 'starting the clock -- oh, it's so terrible to do that.' No. You can stop it as soon as you start it."
Caputo says the Tigers have had plenty of success in the past bringing up prospects a little ahead of the typical schedule. Just look at Alan Trammell -- who was 19 years old when he made his MLB debut -- Lou Whittaker (20 years old), Lance Parrish (21), Justin Verlander (who had 22 Minor League starts before his call-up) Joel Zumaya (who came up at 21) and even Curtis Granderson, who had two partial stints with the Tigers before becoming a full-time Major Leaguer.
"You need to get that experience, know what you need to work on and then go back," Caputo said.
"And I also think it would send a message of accountability to everybody. Like, 'you cannot just play terribly and lose every game, especially at home.' And there's no accountablity of somebody coming up from the Minor Leagues to replace you."