The 2014 Detroit Tigers aren't going to look much like the last few Tigers teams. Despite making it to the ALCS in each of the past two years, the Tigers spent the offseason overhauling their roster, and they lost some pretty good players in their makeover. Gone are Prince Fielder, Jhonny Peralta, Omar Infante, Doug Fister and Joaquin Benoit, a group that combined for 16.1 wins above replacement (WAR) a season ago. No team in baseball saw a larger exodus of talent over the offseason than Detroit, and it might be easy to think that the Tigers took a step back this winter.
Don't believe it, though. According to our calculations, they very well may head into Opening Day as the favorites to win the World Series.