None of that stops either team from still trying to find out something real about next year. Minnesota just called up top prospect Walker Jenkins after he slashed .411/.488/.795 with eight homers at Triple-A St. Paul, and how he looks against a Tigers pitching staff in flux is worth watching regardless of what the standings say.
Detroit's season has settled into a shape that isn't changing much — the Detroit News summed it up plainly as a club whose math doesn't add up anymore, and a rotation stripped of both Flaherty and Verlander backs that up. Minnesota's bullpen has had its own rough patch too, blowing a winnable late lead against a White Sox team with a losing record — the kind of stretch that can make a middling pen look worse than it is, or can be a real warning sign.
There are still two games between now and this one — Tigers and Twins meet Monday and Tuesday first, and whatever happens in that pair will shape who's rested, who's available out of the bullpen, and who's even still standing by the time Wednesday's first pitch goes at 6:40 PM CT. For two teams mostly playing for next season, that's still the whole story here.