In sports, most teams encounter a cycle of winning and losing, a period of time where you are bad, become good for a while, and then are bad again.

Of course, if you're the Chicago Cubs, those winning cycles are fewer and farther between. But nonetheless, most franchises ride this wave to varying degrees at some point.

The Detroit Tigers have been riding along the crest of the "good" wave for a few years now. Starting in 2006, when they lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit has been a winner. With the exception of 2008, they have finished with a record better than .500 every year since, have won the American League Central four years in a row, and made the World Series in 2012.

But after their ALDS sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles this week, has their window to win their first world championship since 1984 closed?

A few of their best players are eligible for free agency this season, and some of the players they do have under contract have bloated contracts that could stifle the team's ability to sign other players moving forward. And the farm system has been gutted in recent years in order to bring veterans onto a roster that was in prime "win-now" mode.

The window to win a World Series, it appears, is beginning to slam shut. If it hasn't already.

Pending Free Agents

The Tigers are going to have some tough decisions to make on some of their players this offseason.

The Tigers are set to lose their best pitcher and their best hitter to free agency, unless they pony up the cash to keep them both. nERD of 3.3 this year means a lineup full of Martinezes would score 3.3 runs a game more than a lineup full of average hitters, sixth-best in all of baseball. Baseball Reference. Cot's Contracts and Baseball Reference).

Baseball America, done in July, the Tigers do not have a prospect that is considered among the 50 best in baseball, and in MLB.com's mid-season Top 100 prospects, no one from the Detroit organization is represented there, either. They list outfielder Derek Hill as the organization's top prospect, with an ETA in the big leagues of 2018.

In recent seasons, the Tigers have traded away Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Francisco Martinez, Jacob Turner, Avisail Garcia, and Smyly, among others. They also did not have a first round pick from 2010-12, and because of their success, their recent first round picks have been at the end of the round, preventing them from landing any of the blue-chip prospects on the board.

Of course, there are valuable players that can be picked throughout the draft, and it's obviously better to be a World Series contender than picking in the top 10 of the draft every year. But at some point, there comes a price to pay for sacrificing so much young talent, and the Tigers are creeping up on that time right now.

Reasons For Hope

The Tigers do have a few young players providing decent production for minimal salary. They got an incredible season from 26-year-old left fielder J.D. Martinez, who put up a .315/.358/.553 slash line with 30 doubles and 23 homers. He's arbitration eligible for the first time this off-season. And third baseman Nick Castellanos, just 22, has a bright future ahead of him at the hot corner as well.

The Tigers also have a couple interesting young shortstops in Andrew Romine and Eugenio Suarez, and will get another season from center fielder Rajai Davis at just $5 million next year.

How Long?

The Tigers' payroll in 2014 was just over $163.6 million, and next year they already have $98.5 million on the books, with holes to fill in the rotation and, more urgently, the bullpen. Detroit's current path has been compared by many to the 2011 Phillies, who won 102 games, lost in the NLDS, and then saw their window of opportunity slam shut.

Are the Tigers there now? Or can they still squeeze one more year out of their core, before Price leaves for free agency?

Cabrera is still one of the best pure hitters in the game, and they still have Price, Procello and Sanchez for next season, as well as Verlander, who pitched a bit better in September but has seen his stuff clearly diminish. They'll need to find a true ace to replace Scherzer if they want to be considered AL Central favorites again next year, they'll have to revamp a bad bullpen, and either re-sign Martinez to a long-term deal (which could cripple them further in two or three years) or find a player or two who can replace his production.

When you're riding the wave of success, it's a whole lot of fun. But as Phillies fans will tell you, the ride back down to mediocrity is at some point inevitable, and not a whole lot of fun.