TA30: With the Big Three cementing their status, the wild card contenders are ready to rumble (2024)

Twice a month,​ we​ ask all​ of our baseball​ writers​ — both the​ local​ scribes​ and thenational team,​ more​ than​​ 30 writers in all — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.

The Dodgers, Yankees and Astros are the big three. The Braves and Twins are right behind them, yelling at the nerds who write power rankings, saying, “What about us?” The Indians, A’s, Rays and Nationals are behind them, grateful that the wild card is a thing. And in the NL Central, you have a slap fight with three teams that might be better than any of them.

Except for the Dodgers, Yankees and Astros. And probably not the Braves and Twins. Or any of the other teams. Look, that’s why we take the time to rank all this, so that you don’t have to put in any effort thinking about which teams are better than the Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers.

Let us do that for you. Let’s rank these teams.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (93-52)

The Dodgers were a clear favorite over the Yankees and Astros in our poll, even though they lost two out of three against the Giants at Dodger Stadium, which should disqualify them for all sorts of awards. Hyun-jin Ryu is struggling mightily, with his ERA rising by exactly one full run over his last four starts. It’s not all peaches and rainbows down at Chavez Ravine.

Just mostly peaches and rainbows. This is still probably the best team in baseball, and they have the clearest path to a pennant of any team. Dispatch the freaks who make it through the wild-card round, let the other two division winners beat up on themselves and pick off the tired, staggering victor. It was the plan before the season, and it’s the plan now.

This version happens to have a lot more Tony Gonsolin and a lot less Dick Mountain, which isn’t ideal. But still enough to put them in the top spot.

2. New York Yankees (94-50)

The Yankees are 94-50, which is their best record through 144 games since the legendary 1998 team, and the second-best since 1961. And now it appears as if there are a bunch of veteran starting pitchers ready to contribute, forming the final leg of this super-freaky Voltron? Doesn’t seem very sporting of them.

If the Yankees can pitch, I’m pretty sure they’re the best team in baseball, even as I look at Gio Urshela, DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit and Mike Tauchman and furrow my brow a lot. In another dimension, those are the first four hitters on a Tigers team that isn’t anywhere near .500, and you’re thinking, “Of course they aren’t close to .500. We’re talking about rejects and castaways. It’s not like there’s some magic team that can collect players like this and build them up.”

Maybe there is, though. Maybe there is.

And maybe the Yankees can pitch a little now. Don’t worry about it, other AL contenders. I’m sure it’s fine.

3. Houston Astros (94-50)

Ah, yes, the third-best team in baseball according to these power rankings. What have they been up to these days?

Hmm, yes, the third-best team in baseball. I definitely believe this. Not worried about the Astros at all, if I’m another team. Because I’m more focused on the best and second-best team in baseball. No sense worrying about the third-best team.

Mm-hmmm. They’re not terrifying at all.

Also, I’m starting to wonder about the Mariners.

4. Atlanta Braves (89-55)

The Braves went into the trade deadline looking for a stronger bullpen. They got it, and it’s one of the reasons they’re currently the hottest team in baseball. They passed their test against their closest competitor, and they’re starting to look like a team that can join the Yankees-Astros-Dodgers conversation.

“Starting to look like” is code for “eh, not yet.” But the Braves are closer to the Dodgers than you think, just 3½ back from home-field advantage. Their rotation is a little sketchy if you’re a believer in FIP, but winning nine in a row will always get you a boost in the ol’ power rankings.

5. Minnesota Twins (88-55)

I’ll be honest with you, I want to use this spot to write 500 words about Rocco Baldelli being the Twins’ manager. He’s younger than Nelson Cruz. He’s one of baseball’s all-time greatest what-if talents, except he might be channeling all that what-if into his managerial career.

And yet, I have more what-ifs:

Baldelli received a scholarship offer to play volleyball at UCLA. Baldelli was an elite volleyball player known across the nation for his skills, and when he sent video footage to major-league clubs, the tape included 20 minutes of his play on the volleyball court and only two minutes of action on the baseball field.

He was one persuasive volleyball coach away fromnot being the Twins manager, which isn’t a sentence you normally read.

And the Twins are comfortably in first place. They’re doing fine, just fine.

Except for Michael Pineda getting suspended for the rest of the season.

And except for Byron Buxton, whose shoulder is extremely worrisome.

They’re probably fine. Just lined up for a first-round matchup against the Yankees. Seems like a barrel of monkeys that couldn’t possibly go wrong, so hold a good thought for the Twins.

6. Tampa Bay Rays (86-59)

The Rays plucked every last feather off the Blue Jays and made a little bonfire over the weekend. This, after they took two of three from the Orioles. This team hates small, filthy, noisy birds and everything that they stand for. As do I. High five, Rays. Loud, filthy birds are the worst.

The Rays are also at something closer to full strength, with Tyler Glasnow coming back and throwing 100 mph. They’re not anywhere near full strength — not without Brandon Lowe or Yandy Díaz — but they’re closer. They have a rough stretch coming up, with eight games coming up against the Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees, but they’re 7-1 in September so far.

They’re also 43-27 on the road, which is just wrong, so keep that in mind.

7. Oakland Athletics (84-59)

The A’s worst month this season was June, when they had a .607 winning percentage. Their bullpen is A LITTLE SKETCHY, A LITTLE WORRISOME, HA HA, NOTHING THEY CAN’T FIX, but they’ve been winning for a few months now. They’re in the shadow of a dominant Astros team, and they’re scrapping with a couple of unusually robust wild-card contenders, but the A’s are good enough to win a best-of-five series against an elite team, and they’re probably good enough to win a best-of-seven series against an elite team because they are one and have been for a while.

They have 20 games left in the season, though, and 17 of them are against divisional rivals. While just four of them are against the Astros, always beware the downtrodden divisional opponents. They have diseases, and they’re rabid, and they want to spread their sickness. The Rangers and Mariners may seem harmless to a team like the A’s, but keep them at a poking-stick’s length. They bite.

Be vigilant, intrepid A’s.

8. Washington Nationals (79-63)

Since the last time The Athletic published these power rankings, the Nationals have enjoyed their craziest night in franchise history. I’ve done the math and, yes, that claim looks strong. The craziest night in franchise history. Against a direct rival, no less.

They’re also losing a whole bunch lately. While it’s unlikely they’ll slump their way out of the postseason at this point, there’s a little bit of recency bias at play, too. We know the Nationals as this unstoppable juggernaut right now, the team that shook off their cobwebs and marched right back into contention. They have one of the best records in baseball since (date that I’m sure exists, but I’m too lazy to look up.)

Those early losses count, of course. Seems a little too easy to brush those aside. So when they win a bunch of games against the Orioles and Marlins, but lose series to the Mets and Braves, those doubts start creeping in, even if just a little bit.

What if April and May are happening again?

How do we spray for an infestation of April and May?

Hey, Alexa: How do you kill April and May right in the heart and face so that we can go on with our lives?

9. Cleveland Indians (83-61)

No, they probably aren’t going to catch the Twins. And even though they took a three-game series against their direct rivals, they’ve slumped a bit over the last couple weeks, putting them in jeopardy of not capturing a postseason spot. This, even though the offseason plan was clearly, “Yeah, we have the Central locked up, so let’s coast and put money under the mattress for a rainy day.”

But they’re still a fine team. They’ve made an ace out of the child of Tim Lincecum and Stretch Armstrong, and in another year, they would be closer to the top of these rankings.

This is not another year, though. This is the year where it feels like a third of the AL teams are 100-40 and another third of the teams are 40-100. It’s tough to make the postseason in this environment, just like it’s tough to cop the first-overall draft pick. There’s just not a lot of room for the merely exceptional teams on either side of the spectrum.

At least they aren’t like those dorks in Boston, just nine games over .500. Can you imagine? Hope someone gets fired over that mess.

10. St. Louis Cardinals (81-62)

The last time the Cardinals lost a series was August 7, which feels like a million weeks ago. They’ve been getting dominant pitching from Jack Flaherty, which has helped my fantasy team move into first place. See, I had a strong collection of hitters all year, but [Editor’s note: Grant has been arrested and charged with unwarranted discussion of a fantasy team. The Athletic will not be assisting with bail.]

OK, be like that, but the Cardinals sure have been getting brilliant starts from Flaherty, who is turning into one of baseball’s premier starters, and Dakota Hudson has been right behind him, soaking up all of those winning vibes. Don’t rule out another deep October run from one of fall’s freakiest franchises, the true well-mannered masters of the dark arts.

Their top of the lineup is rolling. Their rotation is rolling. And they’re winning a whole bunch.

I don’t care how many wins the Dodgers finish the season with. They’re still a little irritated that the Cardinals are right there, ready to tinkle on their success to this point. That goes for the Braves, Nationals, Cubs and, heck, the Yankees, Astros and Twins, too.

Imagine the Cardinals ending any of those seasons. You go through 140 games and think you know the answer, but, whoops, it was the Cardinals all along. It would be on-brand, at least.

11. Chicago Cubs (76-66)

This seems like a logical place to put the Cubs, especially after they dropped three in a row to the Brewers, but consider the existential meaning of an 11th-place ranking in a league with 30 teams: If the Cubs are the 11th-best team in baseball, that means they’re a second-tier team by definition. That seems strange. And wrong. And possibly correct.

But of any of the teams from here until the end of the power rankings, the Cubs are the likeliest to mess things up for a whole bunch of teams in October.

Other than the Marlins, that is. Just give them the chance.

The Cubs are getting a boost from the return of Ben Zobrist, and they’re still enjoying the return to form from Tyler Chatwood, so reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. Theymight have five starters that you wouldn’t trust in a winner-take-all postseason game, depending on your affinity for Kyle Hendricks, but they also have five starters that can dominate any given game.

It’s a funky team, and one that’s waaaaaaaaaay closer to the tippy-top of the first tier than the beginning of the third tier, so don’t rule them out just yet.

12. Boston Red Sox (76-67)

The Red Sox have had championship hangovers before. You think this is bad? Friend, back in 2014, they were so hungover, they couldn’t get off the couch. Just ordered DoorDash and puked, not necessarily in that order.

This hangover is pretty bad, and it cost their president of baseball operations his job. Goodbye, Dave Dombrowski, and don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out. Here, hum this one on the way to your next stop:

Pfft. One World Series win. I hope you learned your lesson.

13. Arizona Diamondbacks (75-68)

The Diamondbacks were never in a full rebuild. They traded away Paul Goldschmidt and let A.J. Pollock and Patrick Corbin walk, and they dumped Zack Greinke at the trade deadline, but they’ve held steady with the concept of reloading, not rebuilding, the whole time. And now they’re one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning 11 games out of their last 13. They could be in this thing.

More teams should follow the reloading, not rebuilding path. Keeps the fans from feeling nauseous throughout the season. And occasionally you’ll run into a contending season. Like this one.

The Diamondbacks are getting help from Wilmer Flores, and they’re expecting to get help from Zac Gallen as long as they need to. They’re a remarkably resilient team that keeps finding fingers to plug into the dam whenever it springs a leak.

(But I’ll bet they’re curious what would have happened if they had kept Greinke. Just a teensy bit curious.)

14. Philadelphia Phillies (74-68)

Gabe Kapler’s … interesting … bullpen decisions have been, well, notuninteresting. And with the Cubs continuing to struggle, there’s still a chance for a strong week to vault the Phillies right into the postseason. Heck, slap their best pitching prospect onto the roster and hope for the best.

Think about what that would mean, just for a second.

It would be the Phillies with a chance to make sure the Nationals don’t win a postseason series for the first time since they were the Expos and it came at their expense.

It would be the Phillies with a chance to keep the Dodgers away from a third straight pennant.

It would be the Phillies with a chance to beat the odds and show up in the World Series looking like a rabid, snarling wolverine with nothing to lose.

Not likely, no. But in a season where everything is Yankees-Dodgers this, and Astros-Yankees that, please respect the humor that would come from a Phillies charge through October that starts … now.

Phillies-Rays rematch. Who’s in?

Oh, come on, Fox executives. Have a sense of humor. You know you’re in.

15. Milwaukee Brewers (74-68)

The swagger is coming back. Christian Yelich is still the best player east of Disneyland, and they’re riding a three-game winning streak. They’ve won seven out of their last 10, and five out of their final six series are against teams under .500. That seems like a good omen, right?

Kind of. Except the Brewers this year have played down to the level of their competition all season. They’re 46-39 against teams over .500 – one of the best marks in either league — but they’re 28-29 against the under-.500 teams. They’ve been so bad against those teams that they’ve been outscored on the season overall.

You figure out what to make of these weirdos.

16. New York Mets (72-70)

Technically still in it. They’re just four games back from the second wild card with 20 to play. If the Cubs go 10-10, and the Mets go 14-6, baby, you’ve got a stew going.

Realistically, still wandering in a forest without any clothes, looking for shelter after one of the worst losses in recent franchise history. The Mets made you believe for a second, and then they got their entire arm stuck in a toilet, just to make you feel stupid for believing. There are still positives, such as Brandon Nimmo returning to form and Pete Alonso continuing to be the best darned Pete Alonso he can be. And they even started the month with a strong road trip that made you believe yet again.

Technically still in it, too. It’s not like they’re further away than they were when they started their late-July renaissance. Maybe they could still get that stew going.

17. Texas Rangers (72-73)

Mike Minor and Lance Lynn are having two of the best seasons from a starting pitcher in franchise history. That’s not hyperbole. There have been a total of 17 seasons from a starter worth more than five WAR in Rangers history, and two of them are coming this season. That’s impressive.

But it’s also bittersweet, considering that Minor and Lynn could have anchored a surprising contender with just a little help from the rest of the roster. It might be Rougned Odor’s swan song in Texas, and there just hasn’t been a lot of help from an offense that’s been a couple ticks worse than the Orioles.

Makes you wonder what would happen to this team if Minor or Lynn regress next year.

The Rangers are winning elsewhere in the organization, though, so maybe the immediate future is brighter than it looks.

18. Cincinnati Reds (67-77)

They’re not dull. That sounds like damning with faint praise, but it’s more praising with faint damn. Michael Lorenzen is a true marvel, worth the price of admission on his own. Aristides Aquino is slowing down, if only because he has to, but he’s still one of the brightest stories of the season. The rotation has hope for 2020, even if Trevor Bauer is a mess and Alex Wood’s return hasn’t gone as planned.

They’re not dull, and they’re about three or four “Oh, sure, I saw that coming” success stories away from punishing the NL Central.

They’re not dull, but they’re not exactlygood now, are they? They’ve outscored their opponents on the season, which means they should be above .500.

Not dull is a strong first step. You’re about to enter the realm marked as “HERE BE DULL,” in which most teams are giving their fans a reason not to watch this year or next. Embrace the not-dull.

Except for the very next team, which is one that you still want to watch. Heck, you want to subscribe for the latest content about that team if you get the chance. I can understand that. Take that feeling and run with it.

19. San Francisco Giants (69-74)

The Giants have 10 things to watch for the rest of the season, and a lot of them have to do with Bruce Bochy. But a lot of them have to do with next year’s team, which has a chance to be much better than this year’s team. Will Johnny Cueto be back at full strength? Will they re-sign Madison Bumgarner, or chase after another ace? Will Mauricio Dubón force his way into a starting gig with his remaining time this season? Will any of the breakout outfielders — who helped rescue a group that was on pace to be one of the worst outfields in history — keep their momentum heading into the offseason?

With two more home runs this year, Mike Yastrzemski will have as many home runs as any player on the 2018 Giants. Which is a marvelous sentence in several respects.

So while the Giants fell off the step stool they were using to pretend they could reach the postseason, there are still reasons to watch the rest of the season. And there are still reasons to read about them for the rest of the season. Reasons to pay money to read them, really. I would pay money to read about this team. And you should tell your friends to do just that.

Here’s an article about Kirk Rueter, for example, that’s worth the price of the subscription.

It doesn’t cost you anything to send an email to a Giants-loving friend and let them know about this coverage, you know. Think it over.

20. Los Angeles Angels (67-77)

The Angels aren’t having the season they had hoped, but please take a moment to read Fabian Ardaya’s masterpiece about Shohei Ohtani’s helmet. The sucker won’t stay on, and it’s mesmerizing.

That’s all the Angels have going for them right now. That and [squints]the best player in baseball for eight years running?

Hmm, guess that’s something. And because GM Billy Eppler is going to be back next year, read Ken Rosenthal on what the Angels need to do to be a contender in 2020. Does his article read nothing but, “The Angels should trade Trout to the Giants for five fringe prospects?” You’ll never know unless you click.

That’s what itshould read, though. Think about it. Five fringe prospects have a chance to turn into five All-Stars. Mike Trout is just one All-Star. This is just math.

21. San Diego Padres (66-76)

The Padres are close. When you read Dennis Lin’s entries about the 2019 team, you can feel the urgency on all sides. Luis Urías just might be a star, but he’s currently struggling, and it’s hard for the Padres to put up with those struggles. Chris Paddack is suffering through growing pains and coming away cleaner on the other side. They’re sifting through power bullpen arms, and they just might find the relievers who will be around for the next good Padres teams.

It’s the urgency that comes with a team that isn’t great but should be better, then. There’s so much talent in the organization that the focus isn’t on where the next good players are going to come from; it’s on how to turn these players — these players, the ones in the organization right now — into those good players.

It’s a better spot than you might want to give them credit for.

22. Pittsburgh Pirates (62-81)

Sure, the Pirates break their bats more often than just about anyone else, which is … undesirable. But it’s also easy to make a list of the positive developments of this season:

• Bryan Reynolds looks he can anchor an outfield for the next decade
• Kevin Newman looks he can do the same at shortstop
• José Osuna has blossomed into a heckuva utility player
• Josh Bell is back, baby
• Dovydas Neverauskas is still incredibly fun to sayand read
• Uh …
• The Pirate Parrot isn’t actively involved in an illicit drug ring?
• The Moran brothers got to play against each other!

There are glimmers. And the Pirates have won six of their last 10, so take the good weeks when they come.

23. Chicago White Sox (63-80)

I’ll be honest with you. I started at number 30 with these rankings and worked backward because there’s nothing worse than being on hour six, looking up and seeing the White Sox and then realizing you have seven more teams to go. Always start with the bad teams first. That way, you’ll have plenty in the tank to write about the bad teams, and when you run out of gas, you’ll get to talk about the good teams.

So. How about them White Sox?

I probably shouldn’t have worried so much because there isstuff to talk about with this team. They’re at the light-at-the-end-of-a-tunnel territory, and they’re at least 85-percent sure the light isn’t coming from a train. They have a new amateur scouting director. Their pitchers are excited about the data-driven direction of the franchise. They have young pitchers and sluggers making every second or third night watchable.

It’s not that bad. Not that great, but you’ve seen how the Twins can move from not-that-great into another echelon within a single offseason. This year hasn’t convinced the White Sox that’s likely to happen, but it hasn’t dissuaded them as much as you think.

24. Colorado Rockies (60-84)

The Rockies won 91 games and made the postseason last year. Last September, they were 19-9. Check out the headlines from the last week of Rockies baseball, though:

• Do the Rockies have a ‘fun’ problem?
• Antonio Senzatela is throwing magnets and the Rockies are suffering his struggles
• ‘It feels like a rebuild.’ Rockies’ frustration running high as they come to grips with a broken season

Not a great week of headlines. Not a great year of baseball.

But here’s what you have to remember: Some teams are bad without Nolan Arenado. The Rockies are bad with Nolan Arenado.

It’s better to be bad with Nolan Arenado.

25. Toronto Blue Jays (55-89)

They’ve lost seven in a row, and that’s not great. They were kinda sorta no-hit, which is embarrassing, even if there’s no shame in getting no-hit by a future Hall of Famer.

At least, though, you can appreciate this two-homer game from Bo Bichette:

First, the leadoff home run came after a wildly fun and gritty 12-pitch at-bat. Second, it was an opposite-field shot, which apparently 21-year-old wunderkinds are all capable of in the pitcher’s hellscape known as 2019.

Third, it made me realize that a 55-year-old Dante Bichette looks like a survivalist who could rip your ears off and live for a month off the water contained within.

Yes, Mr. Bichette, I think Bo will be an excellent player. Yes, Mr. Bichette, I’m talking a real superstar. No, Mr. Bichette, the power rankings don’t have the Blue Jays this low because of anything he did. Please don’t use my ears for hydro-sustenance in your doomsday bunker.

26. Seattle Mariners (58-86)

Sometimes I stare into the void and think about how the Mariners started this season with a 13-2 record. Just thrilling the fans and setting home run records. Since then, they’re 45-84. We might not ever see a team like it.

But if you’re a Mariners fan, you probably clicked on this article and scrolled to the bottom, hoping to feel good. It’s a strange instinct, flipping through the pages of “Awful Grease Fires Illustrated” and hoping there will be feature on a grease fire that warms your heart. Metaphorically warms your heart. We all do it, though. We all want nice words said about our favorite team, even if they don’t deserve it.

Well, here are some nice words. Corey Brock wrote brilliantly about an unlikely friendship that transcends baseball, and then he wrote about what the next Mariners postseason team might look like. Nowthat’s what you need to keep in the canteen around your neck.

Baseball isn’t so bad, friends.

27. Kansas City Royals (53-91)

They’re 6-4 over their last 10 games, and they’ve won three series in a row. Sure, those series were against the Marlins, Orioles and Tigers — literally the only worse teams in the majors — but there’s still value in being the best of the dreadful teams. Bragging rights, if you will.

Hey, Jorge Soler just put the Royals into the 40-homer club for the first time, which is tremendous fun, so don’t knock it. And look at what Bubba Starling does to this baseball:

Just don’t look at his stats after this game. Or before it. Or any stats at all, really. Rot your brain, they will. The Royals have a 40-homer hitter, and they’re mopping the floor with the bad teams. Take solace in that, and you’ll be fine.

28. Miami Marlins (51-91)

Read the master, Peter Gammons, on how the Marlins are desperate to earn back the trust of a thrice-burned franchise. The dirty secret of Miami baseball, though, is that baseball fans have always been punched in the face by every team and owner that’s ambled through. The 1956 Triple-A Marlins were a phenomenon. They moved to Puerto Rico three years later. The Miami Amigos were the best team in the Inter-American League in the late ’70s, but the league folded in the middle of the season. The lack of trust has been building for generations.

All the new owners needed to do was not set fire to the trace amounts of trust that were still visible with an electron microscope. They got off to a rough start.

If you’re looking at the long-term prognosis of any team, though, know that a decade or two can turn any franchise into a regional cornerstone. The Giants were almost bankrupt in the ’70s. The Indians were a literal joke of a team. Build it up now, sustain it for a decade and maybe you’ll have laid down a sustainable foundation in a town that should be baseball-crazy. That’s the idea, anyway. And it starts with young players like Sandy Alcántara, who is becoming an eminently likable fan favorite, and Brian Anderson, whose path to stardom might take him in strange, flexible directions.

It’ll take a little time, though. It’ll take a little time.

29. Baltimore Orioles (46-97)

Holding steady at 29th, and it’s worth noting that they’re five games ahead of last year’s pace. That sounds like the setup for a mean joke, but it’s not! They’re better than last year’s version, which is how these things are supposed to go. Last year’s Orioles team was like a man tied to a chair and covered in millipedes. This year’s version is like the same thing, except they had a good samaritan come in and say, “Hey! Let me remove exactly half of these millipedes from your body! Including the ones rummaging around in your nose.” And, really, you’re happy to have them.

You’re talking Adley Rutschman, one of the top prospects in baseball, leading a resurgent minor-league system that has five of the best prospects in baseball. The Delmarva Shorebirds might be the most successful team in the minors!

For now, though, all you can do is crunch on a millipede if it gets in your mouth. Because a) it stops it from scurrying around your mouth, b) protein and c) that’s one fewer millipede you have to worry about.

The 2019 Orioles: Fewer millipedes than last year’s team. Print the shirts, and give me half of the profits.

30. Detroit Tigers (42-100)

The Tigers lost their 100th game on Sunday, which keeps them in first place for the Tank For Tork sweepstakes. Everyone congratulate the first-place Tigers! They’re the best in their field, as long as that field is made up of teams very good at losing baseball games. It’s probably best not to mention the word “field” right now, actually. Brings up a whole mess of anxieties.

But this is a good time for some perspective, because, hey, at least they aren’t the2003 Tigers. That team was 37-105 after their 142nd game of the season, which means they would have been a cool five gamesworse than the 2019 Tigers. This year’s Tigers team would have to go 5-15 to finish worse than the ’03 team.

Sounds unlikely. And then you remembered that all it would take is the Tigers playing like a .250 team to get there. They have a .296 winning percentage for the season, so it wouldn’t take a lot of calamitous misfortune for them to play just a little worse. They just might get there. This team might actually be worse than the 2003 Tigers. Dmitri Young would be the second-best hitter on the Tigers this year, to be honest. And I’m talking about right now. He’s only 45, give him a call.

At least they have September call-ups to ogle. But let’s just check the dek of that piece, and …

The Tigers’ September call-ups won’t be a prospect showcase. Here’s who’s coming, who’s not and why it’s sometimes complicated.

Well, uh, shoot. At least you can enjoy some warm and fuzzy thoughts about Cole Peterson. You’ve earned them.

(Photo: Kevin Sousa / USA TODAY Sports)