Complete Offseason Guide, Predictions for Detroit Tigers

Through the second half of the season, everyone was constantly waiting for the Detroit Tigers to get their act together, pull away from the Kansas City Royals and run away with the AL Central crown. It never materialized that way, but Detroit was fortunate enough to win the division and avoid the dice roll that is the Wild Card Round.

Surely for the ALDS, the Tigers would flip that switch—being anchored by a few of the biggest stars in the game today—and roll on through to the championship series. Things didn't work out that way, either, and the Baltimore Orioles instead swept Detroit, sending the Tigers home with their figurative tails between their legs.

Really, the only thing that happened the way it was scripted was Detroit's awful, awful bullpen was awful. That's about it.

Tigers fans can take solace though in two things:

1. The fluky nature of the MLB playoffs in general means they weren't necessarily THAT far away this season. After all, proving they were one of the best six teams in the majors (according to wins) through a grueling six-month stretch seems like more useful information than proving they were the best team in a five-game series.

2. The bullpen is the most flexible and variable part of any and every roster. A bad bullpen can be turned around rather easily in one offseason.

Of course, things aren't all that bright and sunny after those factors.

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Victor Martinez, Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez, Detroit's three best hitters through the regular season, were the only three who managed some semblance of offense during the Orioles series that just wrapped. Each notched an OPS over 1.000 in the three-game set, while no one else held up their end.

A sample size this small is usually irrelevant, but it was a pretty good microcosm of Detroit's lineup where those three respectively tallied OPS marks of .895 and above, and no other qualifying Tiger's OPS figure topped Torii Hunter's .765.

Having all three hitters coming off of elite seasons wouldn't be the end of the world if all three were sure to return. Instead, Victor Martinez's contract is up, and he enters free agency. The aforementioned Hunter also just finished the final year of his contract and will be a free agent.

Throwing in Alex Avila's vesting option and with Austin Jackson being sold over to Seattle during the season, the lineup Tigers fans grew used to in the first few months of this season could look mighty different in 2015.

At least this turnover may give Detroit a chance to improve upon its...uh, poor defensive showing in 2014.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

On the pitching side, things followed a similar story arc. The team was led by a couple stars—in this case Max Scherzer and David Price—yet got little production after a surprising third star in Rick Porcello, aka the J.D. Martinez of the rotation.

Scherzer and Porcello combined for 10 wins above replacement this season, and Price added roughly five of his own if you combine his Tampa Bay and Detroit numbers. The rest of the mound-dwellers almost did more harm than good as an overall unit. The numbers don't literally work out to that, but it's amazingly close.

Again, like a mirror of the lineup, things wouldn't be so bad if Scherzer, Porcello and Price were all sure to return, not to mention Anibal Sanchez coming back to full strength.

However, Price and Porcello will both be entering arbitration in their final year before free agency, and Scherzer will be a full-fledged free agent this offseason.

Also, Justin Verlander.

Verlander is coming off easily the worst season of his career and is owed $28 million each of the next five years, followed by a $22 million vesting option in 2020. Yikes.

In 2015, the bullpen and team defense could be improved upon with just the simplest of maneuvers.

Luck and randomness could even turn around bullpen performance one year to the next. As for the main swaths of the team, the rotation and the lineup, it remains to be seen just how different each will look come Opening Day next year.

The Tigers will still have talent regardless of which free agents leave town. However, their dominance of the AL Central is likely over, and 2014 seemed like the year to go out on top, not the year to stumble back to the pack.