Detroit Tigers knocked out of playoff picture, for now

Get all of the qualifiers out of the way first.

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There is a lot of season left. Things could be different by the time tonight’s games are over. One week from now this conversation might seem silly. This might be how things would look if the season ended today, but the season doesn’t end today.

Now that those have been addressed, it is time to acknowledge a bit of baseball news after Friday night’s games that is not insignificant. As things stand now, the Detroit Tigers are out of the playoff picture in the American League. That is the case after their 7-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners, who took over the second wild card spot in the standings.

Detroit’s record currently sits at 65-55. That mark has them 1.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central and 0.5 games behind the Mariners for the last wild card spot. The Tigers are 12-17 since the All-Star Break, have played just .500 baseball in July and are 7-8 in August thus far.

That might not seem like terrible baseball, but combined with the red-hot play of the Royals it has been enough to fall in the standings and be forced to confront the fact that a playoff berth is no sure thing.

Of all of the various possibilities as to how the 2014 season might shake out, the Tigers making the playoffs has been considered a lock for some time now. That case was only strengthened when the team acquired David Price at the trade deadline.

Lots of season left, yes. But this week the baseball world was reminded that no team is guaranteed a spot in the post-season.