Tom Zahari is a writer for the Detroit Tigers blog Motor City Bengals. His opinions do not reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can read our Motor City Bengals blogs every week and find Tom on Twitter at @zaharitom7.
The 2015 Detroit Tigers and 2012 Boston Red Sox were teams that had high expectations but fell flat. The 2013 Red Sox reached the promised land with a World Series title, and the Tigers hope to follow suit in 2016.
The Red Sox finished third in the AL East in 2011 and expected a strong followup season with a lineup anchored by Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis (before his regression).