Jerry Green: GREEN: Breaking even nothing to be proud of -- unless ...

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"Hey, the surging Tigers have hit the .500 mark" -- mediaexclamation of mid-June.
"Oh, boy, two games over .500" -- another exclamation, later in themonth.
"Oooops! The Tigers have dropped back to .500" -- an early Julylamentation.
"Hurrah! The Tigers are back over .500" -- still another July bitof media cheerleading.
"Horrors! The Tigers have slipped back toward .500" -- whining fromthis past week.
And now, "Disastrous! Tigers lose three straight, plummet below.500" -- the alarm shrieking again today, following a 6-5 loss tothe Twins at Comerica Park.
All this heralded the trumpeting of even the more reliable media(an oxymoron?) of an achievement for a ballclub that started the2008 season with loftier objectives. That woeful .500 number hadbeen developed into an accomplishment for a team that hadembarrassed itself with under-achievement for two months. Nobody expected this
After their whopper trades last winter, the Tigers were supposed tobe better than preening about .500 at the All-Star break.
This was the team that was built to win its division, then theAmerican League pennant. Then the World Series.
Or else.
This was the team manager Jim Leyland boasted last winter put himinto a situation that demanded the ultimate victory -- or theseason would be a flop.
"I don't want to go into a season without expectations," Leylandstressed in a conversation with me earlier this season. "The RedSox, Yankees, Braves go into a season every year withexpectations."
At the break, the expectations remain. And .500 cannot be theexpectation for this well-fortified ballclub. The Tigers are barelyat the fringe of the pennant race. And any .500 record generallysignifies third place in October -- out of the playoffs.
This week -- after the All-Star Game and all the drooling aboutYankee Stadium -- the Tigers are about to enter the trade-rumorquackery phase of the season. The deadline for shopping -- orselling -- without the benefit of the waiver wire is the end ofJuly.
No doubt, general manager Dave Dombrowski, with his reputation as atrader, will endeavor to do something to bolster the Tigers. Thatis his history. He deals. And usually, he deals well.
Yet, it was his trades of last winter that, in my opinion, put theTigers in the position of using the .500 mark of mediocrity as awatershed accomplishment.
Miguel Cabrera has become a positive addition. He has shown theability to pound the ball and win ballgames.
But Dontrelle Willis moved from Miami to Detroit with Cabrera. Andthe situation, with a scattered-armed Willis has turned into thesaddest story of the Tigers' season.
And Edgar Renteria is in decline after many decent seasons atshortstop. They're not done -- yet
The trades left the Tigers with a shortage of young pitching. Suchpitching is a necessity if the Tigers are to push above the .500level later in July, August and the critical month of September.
The basic result of the winter trades is that the Tigers have beenconducting a summertime tryout camp rather than chasing a pennant.
Cabrera has become a fixture nowhere -- tried at third base, now atfirst. The upshot is that Carlos Guillen, the dependable shortstopof a pennant winner two years ago, has been tried at first base --and now at third.
And for the Tigers, due to necessities, the regular season has beentransformed into a tryout camp for rookies. The Toledo Shuffle goeson.
The Tigers should play on with Leyland's high expectations.Perhaps, Dombrowski might pull off a coup before the tradedeadline.
This cannot be a seller ballclub, as suggested a few weeks ago by atrade-rumor quack who mentioned the Tigers might benefit by tradingMagglio Ordonez. It was a quitter's comment.
The season goes on for another 2