This is what you call a snowball. Or at this point it might seem more like Murphy’s Law trying to take effect on the Detroit Tigers, because anything that can seemingly go wrong is creeping around the team right now.

The Tigers have now won two in a row after Saturday’s 8-3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays. But that is coming off being swept at home by the Pittsburgh Pirates and, even worse, Saturday’s news that the best hitter in the game has a severe calf strain.

Miguel Cabrera, who leads the American League in several offensive categories, was pulled from Friday’s game in the fourth inning. After being evaluated, the Tigers announced a Grade 3 left calf strain for the MVP candidate, putting him on the disabled list for the first time in his magnificent career and on the shelf for six weeks.

“When you lose the best hitter on the planet it’s a huge blow,” manager Brad Ausmus told reporters. “We’re going to have to find a way to get it down [sic] without him, at least for the next month and a half or so. We still have a very good offense.” USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale noted losing Cabrera was a “huge blow” for the Tigers:

It is true that the Tigers still have a good lineup. It has scored 15 runs since Cabrera left Friday’s game while running the bases and entered Saturday ranked second in the league in wRC+ (109), wOBA (.328) and third in FanGraphs WAR (13.4). However, the offense has been somewhat inconsistent, showing heavy firepower one day and futility the next far too often. 

Cabrera leads the league in average (.350), OBP (.456), OPS (1.034), wRC+ (184) and wOBA (.436). He has 15 home runs and entered Saturday leading the Tigers with 54 RBI.

He has obviously contributed mightily to steadying the offensive output. Cabrera is as consistent a hitter as you’ll find in the history of the game. Losing him for a significant portion could be devastating for the Tigers, and in a division where they are currently third and a disappointing two games over .500, they cannot afford to be wounded.

“We have to find a way to win without Miggy,” Ausmus told reporters. “Injuries are part of the game, and unfortunately it happened to one of the better players in baseball. It affects us tremendously, but we’re not the first team to have a star player go down.”

But because of who the injury occurred to and where the Tigers stand as an offense and team, Cabrera might be a top-three player whose team can least afford to be without.

So much so that upon news of Cabrera’s DL stint, the Internet flooded with stories of the Tigers’ four-year run as AL Central champs being finished and them going from contender to seller because Cabrera won’t be in the lineup. And, honestly, both storylines have some substance.

The Tigers’ playoff mettle is to be tested in the next few weeks. They travel to Seattle to face that much-improved rotation and then to Minnesota to face a Twins club that sits ahead of them in the Central. They then host the Baltimore Orioles and the Mariners.

At that point, the July 31 trade deadline will be a week away. Decisions will have to be made with conviction.

If the Tigers pass the next three weeks, it makes sense for them to attack the trade market for an arm like Jeff Samardzija or Scott Kazmir. If they fail, it will be brand-new territory for this bunch. Over the previous nine trade deadlines, the Tigers have been above .500, and for the previous six they have bought to improve their postseason chances. If they fail, pieces could be sold.

Six players—David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, Alfredo Simon, Alex Avila, Joakim Soria and Rajai Davis—are pending free agents, and time has likely come and gone to extend any of them beyond this season. That is where the Tigers could start if they decide to sell, which could begin to replenish a farm system that has been virtually nonexistent in recent years.

After it lost Willy Adames and Jake Thompson in the Price and Soria deals last year, respectively, Baseball America rated it the worst in all of baseball entering this season.

That is the unlikely scenario, though.

If the Tigers remain around the .500 mark and within a David Price gem or two of a wild-card berth, they have to keep prying at the window. Cabrera’s eight-year, $248 million extension doesn’t kick in until next year. Justin Verlander is owed $112 million over the next four years. They signed Victor Martinez to a four-year, $68 million deal after last season, and Anibal Sanchez has $37 million remaining over the next two seasons.

Doing a complete teardown with those names and numbers on the books could turn the fanbase against the club and would not sit well with those veterans. And anyway, aside from Price, no one else who would be on the trading block would fetch a nice enough return for the Tigers to execute such a plan.

This is how this will play out: While Cabrera is out, the Tigers will be all in. That might mean making a blockbuster kind of trade sooner than expected, and it definitely means the next three weeks without their best player will define their season.

 

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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