The Detroit Tigers. Could they blow it?

I, for one, have found some of the recent chatter interesting, and perhaps even premature when it comes to the Detroit Tigers.

Detroit area beat-writers, columnists, and talking heads have been asking manager Jim Leyland how he's going to set up his starting pitching rotation in the post-season. Of course, these are dumb questions. Leyland doesn't know what's going to happen a month from now. Nobody knows.  What if one of the starters gets injured? Tests positive for PEDs? Either one of those would throw a monkey in the works.

But wait a minute. This is all assuming the Tigers are a lock for the post-season. Not so fast. Last time I looked the Tigers were 5 games ahead of those pesky Cleveland Indians in the loss column, with about 27 games to go. A decent lead? Sure. A lock? Hardly.

Tiger fans need only harken back to last season. With about the same month to go, the Chicago White Sox were cruising along with a similar lead. Remember what happened to them? They went into a tailspin, the Tigers got hot and, presto, the Chisox were on the outside looking in and the Tigers went on to the World Series. It can happen. A 5 game lead can evaporate in one measly week, let alone a month. If the Indians somehow overtook the Tigers for the AL Central division title, things might get rather dicey in Motown. Out in the east, assuming Boston wins it, the Tampa Bay Rays are nipping at the Tigers' heels as far as overall record and wild-card status are concerned. As are the Oakland Athletics out in the west. The Baltimore Orioles aren't out of it, and with the NY Yankees getting a few of their long-injured players back -- who knows what they might do in September? Any of those teams are capable of reeling off a 22-5 record in the next month.

It's entirely possible the Tigers could play otherwise respectable .500 ball for the rest of the season, but if other things fell the wrong way -- they could find themselves in the same position as the Chisox last year. I'm just saying a lot stranger things have happened over the years in baseball. Good grief, Brandon Inge once thought he was Home Run Derby material. That didn't work out so well either, but I digress.

At that, the Tigers' supposedly awesome starting pitching rotation just found themselves collectively shelled by the Oakland A's. Every one of them got lit up like the proverbial pin-ball machine. Are the rigors of a long season with so many innings pitched finally taking their toll? Maybe. Or maybe it's just a coincidence. Stuff happens.

The Tigers were fortunate to escape a sweep by the A's. After getting bombed in the first 3, and trailing 6-1 in the finale, they somehow mustered a rally to squeak out a win.

But this might not bode well for the Tigers. With their starters hitting the showers so fast, the Tigers' bull-pen comes into play in a large way. And most everybody would agree the Tigers' bullpen is the very definition of a crap-shoot. You roll the dice and hope for the best. Even Leyland himself has acknowledged he needs 6-7 innings out of his starters, so as not to wear out the "pen". That's further assuming the relievers are effective when they take the mound -- no given. Sometimes they're great. Other times they serve up batting practice.

And now fearsome slugger Miguel Cabrera appears hobbled a bit by a mysterious injury. Will he shake it off and return to form, or might it be something more serious? Nobody knows at this point. Delete Miggy from the line-up for any extended period of time and the Tigers become a lot less formidable.

Tell ya what, tho. I wouldn't be going all-in with my kids' college tuition funds right now on how the Tigers will fare in the post-season. They have to get there first. And contrary to what the "homers" would have you believe -- it's not a lock just yet. Did I say stuff happens?

Consider: If you were to gamble your kids' future with such a bet now -- and lose -- they would be deprived of the education they need to survive in the modern world. And then they might grow up to be just like yours truly. Worthless, dysfunctional idiots.

That ought to be enough to scare the bejeebers out of any responsible parent in the Detroit area.

But by all means, keep rooting for your heroes sporting Ye Olde English D on their caps and uniforms.

We'll all know in a month.