Congratulations to the Atlanta Braves for winning the World Series! Congratulations to Freddie Freeman This man is deserving of everything. Congratulations to Ozzie Albies and Mike Fiers, Jeff Mathis (and Austin Riley), Will Smith (and Drew Smyly)!
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Drew Smyly is the reason I am highlighting him. Even though he didn't pitch well in this series (allowing three earned runs and seven hits in four innings), why should I be congratulating him? Smyly was a rookie with the 2012 Detroit Tigers and has been to World Series before. Smyly actually made two appearances against the Giants in that Series in Games 2 and 4.
Smyly was a Tigers player for two-and-a-half seasons. He then moved to Tampa Bay Rays in a deal with David Price, a former Cy Young Award winner. The Tigers were home to several notable names in their pitching staff that year: Justin Verlander (Max Scherzer), David Price, Anbal Sanchez, Rick Porcello, and David Price. Six pitchers from the 2014 Tigers team, including Smyly, have won a World Series title together with another team.
This is the legacy of the 2014 Tigers, a team with tremendous talent but couldn't win it all. Then they lost all their talented players and saw them succeed elsewhere.
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Since 1984, the Tigers have not won a World Series. The Tigers have produced some of the greatest players over the past 12 years. They were not only part of the Tigers team, but they also played on those 2010s teams that couldn't win it all. I have yet to name every major-name pitcher on the 2014 Tigers team. Robbie Ray, Toronto Blue Jays' ace, spent his rookie season here. Ray was only in nine games, posting a 1-4 record with an 8.16 ERA.
In a three-team deal, Ray was quickly shipped to Arizona. The Tigers did not acquire Shane Greene, a reliever in the deal. Ray went on to be the most prolific strikeout pitcher ever in MLB history. In 2017, he was named to an All-Star team and placed 7th in NL Cy Young voting. Ray, now a Blue Jays player, is currently in contention for the AL Cy Young Award in 2021. He would be the fifth member of the 2014 Detroit Tigers' pitching staff to win the Cy Young Award for another team if he wins.
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I haven't even reached the hitters of that 2014 squad. Three members of the line-up earned All-Star nods with different teams: J.D. Martinez, Nicholas Castellanos and Eugenio Suez were among the three players who earned All-Star nods with other teams. Although Martinez was invited to the All-Star team by the Tigers in 2015 for his outstanding performance, it is fair to say that he was also invited. However, there are still three of the most talented players from the late 2010s on the 2014 Detroit Tigers. There are also four Cy Young-winning pitchers and a staff of four (potentially five, if Robbie Ray wins this year's Cy Young). This could potentially be a whole rotation of Cy Young winners. Not to mention that the bullpen was made up of many future and past All-Stars: Joakim, Joe Nathan and Corey Knebel were all part of that 2014 Tigers bullpen. All of them have All-Star selections, but none of them were All-Stars when they were Tigers players.
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There was an incredible amount of talent on that team. They were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round. It's heartbreaking enough. It is heartbreaking to see the same players achieve great success on different teams.
