(Photo: Max Ortiz, Detroit News)
Detroit — The Tigers are selling a narrative and buying time, and most observers understand it and accept it — for now. But, for how long?
Rebuilds in pro sports are ugly, often unavoidable, seldom brief. Generally, fans will be patient, under one condition: They see promising pieces of the future.
This is where the pressure will rise on Tigers GM Al Avila, and this is when it’ll hit — in less than two years. No, the Tigers won’t be pennant contenders by 2020, but they can’t be another 90-plus-loss team.