SB Nation Fanpulse: Zero percent of Tigers fans think they will contend for the World Series in 2020

Hey, at least we’re honest with ourselves.

In the most recent FanPulse poll — you have still been filling those out, right? — our readers and Detroit Tigers fans at large were asked if they thought the team would be able to contend for the World Series in 2020.

Literally every single person said no.

Tigers fans were one of two fanbases to unanimously believe their team has zero shot at winning it all in 2020 (the Seattle Mariners were the other), and, well, I can’t blame them. The Tigers lost 114 games in 2019, the second-highest total in franchise history, and advanced metrics say they were just as bad as the team’s actual record. While the Tigers are doing well to bolster their front office staff, the MLB roster is... lacking, to say the least.

Additionally, there doesn’t seem to be much help on the way — for the purposes of this question, at least. The Tigers don’t appear poised to spend big this winter with both Jordan Zimmermann and Miguel Cabrera still on the payroll, and most of their top prospects are still marinating in the minor leagues. Even a spending spree of epic proportions probably wouldn’t push the Tigers ahead of their AL Central competition. Short of a massive leap forward from several young players throughout the organization, the Tigers are going to be among the worst teams in baseball again next year.

Judging by your survey responses, however, you won’t be surprised when this happens.

How confident are you in the direction of the team?

As you might imagine, Tigers fans were not happy with where the team was headed as the season wound down. The drop-off on the above graph wasn’t nearly as steep as other fanbases — Boston and Philadelphia, woof — nor did the Tigers have the lowest approval rating in the game. In fact, a healthy 33 percent of responses indicated that the Tigers were still headed in the right direction despite their pitiful record.