Well, Tigers fans, here we are.
No longer need to check the standings.
No more working on your quick math skills.
Baseball will wrap up at the conclusion of this weekend for our boys in the old English D.
Yes, the pressure is gone and now we just look towards the finish line.
There is still some baseball left to be played.
And, perhaps more importantly, there’s still baseball to be figured out.
While the Tigers are preparing to close the book on the 2026 season, there is a rather large question hanging over the sport:
When exactly are we going to see them again?
No, the 2027 season has not been cancelled…yet.
No baseball is not going officially going away…for now.
But the reality of a work stoppage is becoming harder and harder to ignore.
MLB’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires December 1st. The League and the player’s union are negotiating a new deal, and one of the biggest sticking points is MLB’s proposal for a salary cap and salary floor. The Player’s union has repeatedly opposed a salary cap.
And if history has taught fans of the game anything? It’s that labor negotiations are a great way to take something everybody loves and make everybody miserable.
The last time the CBA was negotiated in 2022, it resulted in 99-day lockout delaying the start of the season.
So, forgive me if I am not quick to say “See you in April.”
But before we start worrying about the Winter and whether anybody is actually going to report to Spring Training. Before we even being to ask what Winter Meetings will look like (assuming they will have any) let’s enjoy what we have left.
And the first one is going to be difficult to ignore.
Justin Verlander.
JV is officially set to make the start this Saturday at Comerica. His final start. Not a ceremonial one inning appearance. He wants to compete and try to win one more game for the Tigers.
That’s worth remembering.
The Tigers are not going to the postseason.
Saturday is not about that.
It’s about one of the greatest players in franchise history taking the mound one more time.
And with the way things have fallen off the rails no just for the team but in his final season? Why not? Give him one last deserved moment in the spotlight.
While Verlander pitch one last time in Comerica Park (both due to retiring and due to Comerica being renamed next season) As the Tigers close the door on the past, I come to my second talking point.
What are we watching for?
The answer is simple yet ultra important.
The future.
Detroit has already been eliminated, but that doesn’t mean these final games are meaningless.
Quite the opposite.
Look at River Ryan.
He made his Tigers debut Monday night against Washington after returning from Tommy John surgery. He threw three scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Hao-Yu Lee had three hits.
Eduardo Valencia had three hits.
Dillon Dingler had two hits.
The Tigers hit three home runs and beat Washington 9-2.
That’s the stuff worth watching now.
Not because any one game is going to change the 2026 standings.
But because the Tigers are trying to figure out which pieces belong in the next version of this team.
And that’s particularly important when nobody knows exactly when that next version will take the field.
Bottom line is? This offseason might not look like an offseason.
Normally, once a team is eliminated, the conversation turns to:
Normally, once a team is eliminated, the conversation immediately becomes:
Who’s coming back?
Who’s getting traded?
Who are they signing?
Where do they need to spend?
What does the roster look like on Opening Day?
This year, there is an enormous asterisk attached to all of that.
The Tigers can make plans.
Scott Harris can make plans.
A.J. Hinch can make plans.
Players can make plans.
But until MLB and the MLBPA reach a new agreement, nobody knows exactly what the baseball calendar is going to look like.
And that’s why these final games matter.
That’s why it is imperative that Detroit needs to gather as much information as possible now.
If you’re deciding future roster spots? You would rather have four games instead of three.
If you’re trying to determine if a young pitcher can join the rotation, you would rather see him face Major League hitters now.
If you’re trying to determine if a young hitter belongs in the middle of your lineup? Give him opportunities now.
Because once the series wraps up, there is no guarantee that things proceed according to the normal baseball calendar.
And then there’s the salary cap fight.
This is where things get particularly interesting for a team like Detroit.
MLB has proposed a hard salary cap of $245.3 million and a salary floor of $171.2 million beginning in 2027. The league says the proposal is designed to address competitive balance and narrow the enormous gap in spending between the highest- and lowest-payroll teams.
The MLBPA has rejected the concept of a salary cap.
That isn’t a minor disagreement.
That’s one of the biggest philosophical disagreements you can have in professional sports.
And the linger the two side remain apart, the more the L word enters the conversation.
You know…Lockout.
We can not predict how this ends. We can hope it ends well and quick.
Maybe they reach a deal.
Maybe there’s a short work stoppage.
Maybe negotiations drag on.
Maybe spring training gets delayed.
Maybe something much worse happens.
Those are all possibilities.
What we do know is that the CBA expires December 1.
And that means the Tigers could finish their season Saturday and then enter one of the strangest baseball offseasons we’ve seen in years.
You know? As I sit and think about all this? The timing is poetic.
Our season didn’t end with a dramatic post season collapse.
No Walk off loss in October.
It ended in September with uncertainty about what this team will look like in 2027.
And now baseball itself is asking the same question the Tigers are.
What comes next?
For the Tigers, it’s the young players.
Who will fit in where?
Can this team take another step?
Will the pieces they’ve developed eventually become a legitimate postseason club?
And of course, for this offseason, will the front office actually get the opportunity to put that team together?
Because there are a lot of maybes.
There may be a lockout.
There may not be.
There may be baseball in March.
There may not be.
There may be a full 162-game schedule in 2027.
There may not be.
We simply don’t know yet.
As we are on the precipice of the end of the 2026 season, we’ve been talking about the Tigers’ next step.
Now we’re finally getting to see one of the final steps of this particular season.
And one final time, Justin Verlander will take the mound wearing the Old English D. Sending a fond farewell to the greatest pitcher of this generation.
There will be plenty of time to talk about the offseason.
There will be plenty of time to talk about free agency.
There will be plenty of time to talk about the CBA.
And, unfortunately, there may be plenty of time to talk about a lockout.
For now?
Watch the game.
Watch the rookies.
Watch Verlander.
Because the Tigers’ 2026 season is almost over.
And after that, nobody can say for certain when the next chapter begins.
Let’s hope baseball doesn’t make us wait too long to find out.
Next week we will have one final look at the 2026 season. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. And there’s been a lot of each one.
Until then? Enjoy the final homestand.
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