Winning the AL Central and advancing to the ALCS last season evidently wasn't enough for the Detroit Tigers to win a spot on the early part of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball schedule.
Of the 10 games already scheduled for ESPN's weekly national showcase, the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers are tabbed for three appearances, with the Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals each set for two games apiece. (Naturally, the Yankees and Red Sox will play each other in two of the scheduled broadcasts.)
The lone AL Central team to make the early cut? The Chicago White Sox. Go figure.
If it's any consolation, the Tigers aren't the only playoff team from last season to be squeezed off the Sunday night schedule. Both the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks are missing from the current slate, as well.
ESPN hasn't yet scheduled any games for the month of June, so the Tigers could conceivably fit in there if the network figures they warrant the interest. On June 3, Detroit hosts the Yankees, so that looks like a strong possibility. The Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates are the Tigers' other three Sunday opponents in June.
The Sunday night schedule is also free from July 23 through the end of the season, so if the Tigers are in the division race, they could also get a nod later in the year.
Here's the ESPN Sunday night slate, as it currently stands:
| April 8 | Chicago White Sox at Texas |
| April 15 | L.A. Angels at N.Y. Yankees |
| April 22 | Yankees at Boston |
| April 29 | Tampa Bay at Texas |
| May 6 | Philadelphia at Washington |
| May 13 | Angels at Texas |
| May 20 | St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers |
| May 27 | Washington at Atlanta |
| June 3-July 1 | TBD |
| July 8 | Yankees at Boston |
| July 15 | St. Louis at Cincinnati |
| July 22-Sept 23 | TBD |
(via Big League Stew)