what happened to the Detroit Tigers?

They don't focus on areas that need attention. The same things happen over and over again. The bullpen has been failing them for many years. For many years they have a slide in the second half. In 2006 they led the Central by 10 games at the All Star Break. Minnesota was in 3rd and 12 games behind and made a strong run and won the division. The Tigers have had a poor record against teams in their division. I believe they have a losing record against everyone in the AL Central. I am certain that Cleveland will overtake third place. The Tigers do not learn from past mistakes. They do not improve the areas that need to be improved. They consistently hire players that have had their better times.

The first mistake was that everyone, including the Tigers' front office, horribly overestimated Dontrelle Willis. He's a pitcher who had one good season, and whose peripherals have declined since then. I'm not sure why anyone could have thought that a guy coming off a 5+ ERA season in the National League would have success in a league with the designated hitter. The Tigers should be embarrassed about projecting him as a valuable part of the rotation. The offense has been solid (top three in scoring in the AL), but it's certainly not Murderers Row. Tigers fans fell in love with Granderson based on one year, so they're surprised to see him fall off. Age has also been a factor, with Sheffield looking old and some of the others you mentioned going through their own struggles. The starting rotation, though, is the main culprit, with the bullpen also contributing. Verlander has been surprisingly awful, and there's really nobody on their whole staff who strikes fear into hitters. It's a combination of underperforming and unrealistic expectations. I'm not sure why Tigers fans thought the World Series was theirs to lose in the first place, but it's obviously been a rude awakening.

the last two off season they decided just to try and out hit everyone by bringing in sheff for three decent to good pitching prospects(most notably Humberto Sanchez), then the nex offseason, they trade Jair Jurrjens for Rentira, Jurrjens is a having a decent to good season going 11-9 with a 3.28 ERA while Rentira is losing range at short. They went out and got cabrera and willis for a pitcher who is going to be really really really good in a few years, Andrew Miller, and a center fielder who is probably going to be pretty good but it was a good reason for why the traded him(he was blocked in center by Granderson). So that AL Champion team in 2006 where the focus was pitching changed the whole focal point of the team to offense. Not to mention that the pitchers havent really produced that much and the bullpen has missed zumaya rodney and todd jones for a good chunk.

Well the biggest reasons before the all-star break were their slow start because they struggled against their division so badly(4-16 no joke) and shut out about 8 times. Now their offense is better and more consistent but their starting pitching started to do badly and their bullpen started to blow a bunch of saves and holds.

L O L that's what everyone said! Because of their so-called "power offense" they were supposed to go the world series and win it all.The thing is they were looking at the INDIVIDUALS they got,not the team itself.EXAMPLE: they got Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis.Everyone was saying "Cabrera contributed to his team last year,and he can do the same this year".Cabrera is a great player,but them together didn't necessarily put up explosive offensive numbers.As for Dontrelle Willis,I mean I know him as the guy who pitched for the Marlins who hit quite a few homeruns for his team.Instead of him hitting the homeruns,other players were hitting homeruns off of him! They were saying "this is a great team" just because they got Willis and Cabrera.I mean I'm not going to say "The Giants are a great team" just because they have Omar Vizquel!!

In my opinion, it's all about the pitching.

Our bullpen is ****, our starters are starting to lean that way too.

Look at Justin V. for example. I haven't watched the past few games, but what I have seen out of him this season is that he's just getting worse and worse. Don't get me wrong, I think V. is awesome, I even have his shirt.

The thing is our team falling apart, our players losing willpower.

They brought in overrated players with horrible attitudes. Yes, I mean Gary Sheffield. One of the biggest losers to ever play the game. There is no such thing as team camaraderie when Sheffield is in the clubhouse.

The Tigers basically fell apart, the pitching and the batting but they will do a lot better next year

injuries. polanco started off the year injured, sheffield had lingering injuries.

poor choices. jacque jones. that's enough said right there. and not using dontrelle much in the preseason also hurt as he didn't have any command.

pitching problems also really haven't helped, with zumaya and rodney gone for so long, and rodney coming back with control issues himself.

but look at them now. they're surging back and should finish above .500 this year

Being a long time Detroit resident, i just think their heads got too big after the WS apperance. they thoguth they could cruise thru the central last year and this year, and they need to work or they will get nowhere