As Tigers and Mets look to avoid stunning collapses, MLB’s final week should be a doozy

MLB Playoff

Hunt

Which would be more embarrassing, the Detroit Tigers blowing a 15 1/2-game lead to a division opponent or the New York Mets missing the postseason with a $340 million payroll?

With one week left in the regular season, both possibilities are in play. The Tigers’ collapse in the AL Central would rank among the biggest in AL/NL history. The Mets’ crash would be even more humiliating than their 2007 freefall, when they blew a seven-game lead in the NL East with 17 to play.

The average fan probably would label the Mets a greater embarrassment, considering their payroll is nearly three times as large as the Cincinnati Reds, the team that tied them for the final NL wild card on Sunday. The Reds hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, meaning the Mets – at least for the moment – have lost control of their fate. And the Arizona Diamondbacks are only one game back.