Detroit Tigers. How low can they go?

Once upon a time earlier this season, the Detroit Tigers had a 6-2 record. The usual hope sprung eternal in Motown..

And then the wheels fell off.

Since then, they have gone a woeful 56-93, a whopping thirty seven games under .500, and not only fallen into the cellar of their own division, but are dead last in the entire American League. Oh my.

Mercifully, manager Brad Ausmus has been notified his contract will not be renewed following the 2017 regular season. This had pretty much been etched in stone months ago, but now it's official.

Thing is, the sorry plight of the Tigers is hardly the fault of Ausmus. He's a decent, upstanding guy, has the respect of his players, and for the most part has done all he could do with the talent, or lack thereof, he had available. The front office of the Tigers, in particular one Al Avila, the general manager, had sown the seeds of the crash years ago. This was accomplished by signing players to long-term contracts for obscene amounts of money, when they were clearly on the back sides of their careers. But the manager is always the fall guy. It should be Avila getting run out of town -- not Ausmus.

If the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies, the dregs of the National League, can somehow find a way to win a couple more games before the season ends, the Tigers could well find themselves in the unenviable position of being the worst team in all the major leagues. Did I say "oh my"?

Despite the fact the Tigers are currently on an 8 game losing streak, and have lost a miserable 15 of the last 17, they still have one thing to shoot for.

Not losing the dreaded 100 games in a season. They need one more win in their final five games to escape even further notoriety.

One would think, given anybody can supposedly beat anybody else on any given day in major league baseball, their chances would be good.

But these are the current Tigers, far and away the most pitiful excuse for a major league team the public has seen for quite some time.

They have two more games to go @ Kansas City, then finish it up with three @ Minnesota.

The Royals are still technically in the running for a playoff spot if everything works out perfectly. They have to win out and hope the Twins stumble. Could happen. They'll play hard until and unless they're mathematically eliminated.

But if and when that happens, the Twins will likely rest a lot of their better players, including lining up their best starting pitcher for the one-game wild card showdown. This could benefit the Tigers in their last series.

They might actually avoid the dreaded 100 losses.

Then again, as bad as the Tigers are these days, they could just as easily extend their current eight game slide into thirteen and go out with one final colossal thud.

Just one win is all they need, with five chances to get it.

In my ignorant humble opinion, I'd say the odds are about 50-50.

Oh my indeed.