I covered a team that had Cabrera, Scherzer and Verlander in their primes, plus David Price and Rick Porcello and Anibal Sanchez and Victor Martinez and Prince Fielder ... and they never managed to win a World Series. With the exception of Cabrera and Martinez, almost every key member of that team has won a World Series in the last three seasons — all five members of the rotation, plus JD Martinez and Ian Kinsler.

In 16 years, the Tigers went from 119 losses to two AL pennants and five straight division titles to 115 losses. And that’s not counting the 1996 team that lost 109 games and might be the worst of the three.