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There is no way to sugarcoat it: the 2015 season was a huge disappointment for the Tigers. The club won four straight AL Central titles from 2011-14, but they struggled so much in the first half of 2015 that they traded away David Price and Yoenis Cespedes at the deadline. They finished the year at 74-87 and in last place.

Rather than take a step back and rebuild, the Tigers went for it again over the winter, most notably signing Jordan Zimmermann and Justin Upton as free agents. They also added Mike Pelfrey, Cameron Maybin, Justin Wilson, Mark Lowe, Francisco Rodriguez, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Tigers are trying to contend again in 2016.

So far things are not working out as planned. They did hang on to beat the Twins on Monday (DET 10, MIN 8) -- they led 8-0 after the first inning -- though the win only improved their record to 17-21. They're seven games back of the first place White Sox. Things have been getting so bad that manager Brad Ausmus is (again) being asked about this job security.

"I don't get too involved or concerned with the white noise," said Ausmus to reporters, including James Schmehl of MLive.com, prior to Monday's game. "It's what happens in here and out there that matters. As long as everything is good in here, as in the clubhouse, it's business as usual. It's just kinda how I go about my day."

There is still plenty of season remaining -- 124 games left after Monday -- but obviously the Tigers must improve their play sooner rather than later if they want to contend in the AL Central. Heck, they need to start playing better just to stay in the Wild Card race. The competition for postseason spots will be fierce in the AL.

There are three specific areas of the team that have to get better for the Tigers to have a realistic chance to contend for a playoff spot this year.

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The Tigers have been struggling and manager Brad Ausmus is on the hot seat. USATSI

1. Justin Upton has to be the difference-maker

The Tigers gave Upton a six-year contract worth $132.75 million because they expected him to be an impact player. That was far-fetched at all. Upton hit .251/.336/.454 with 26 home runs and 19 steals for the Padres last season. Adjusted for ballpark and other factors, he was 21 percent better than the league average hitter offensively.

So far this season Upton has been anything but an impact hitter. He went 1 for 4 in Monday's game and is now hitting .217/.255/.316 with only two home runs this season. Upton leads all of baseball with 62 strikeouts in only 161 plate appearances, so 38.5 percent of his trips to the plate have resulted in strike three. Yikes. As you'd expect, that is the highest strikeout rate in baseball.

Detroit is getting big time offensive production from Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Victor Martinez, and Nick Castellanos, yet they are only averaging 4.37 runs per game. The AL average is 4.23 runs per game. The Tigers need to get Upton back on track to make the jump from average-ish offense to great offense.

This is a team designated to pummel opponents, and they can't do it with Upton fanning more than out of every three trips to the plate. He has to be a difference-maker.

2. The middle and back of the rotation needs some tweaking

No free-agent pitching contract from this past offseason has worked out better than Zimmermann's five-year, $110 million contract. He went into Monday's start with a 5-2 record and a 1.50 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 48 innings. The Twins tagged him for eight runs (seven earned) in seven innings, so that's now a 2.45 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, which is still excellent.

Zimmermann has been fantastic. The rest of the rotation has not, and that includes veterans Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez. Look at these numbers:

Starts Innings ERA WHIP WAR
Justin Verlander 8
 49 2/3
 4.71 1.23 +0.3
Anibal Sanchez
 8 42 2/3
 5.91 1.59 -0.4
Mike Pelfrey
 7 35 2/3
 5.80 1.85 -0.6
Michael Fulmer/Shane Greene
 7 32 2/3
 6.61 1.78 -0.5

The Tigers are 6-2 when Zimmermann starts and 11-19 when anyone else starts. That is brutal. Verlander and Sanchez are locked into their rotation spots due to their contracts. Pelfrey, who signed for two years and $16 million over the winter, should not be though. The Tigers should be very willing to move him into a long relief role given those results.

Shane Greene opened the year in the rotation before coming down with a blister problem, at which point Michael Fulmer replaced him. Neither has gotten the job done. The Tigers have other fifth starter options, specifically Matt Boyd and Daniel Norris, so they can cycle through some options and hope to find the right mix. What they've had the first six weeks of 2016 isn't working.

Verlander and Sanchez might be in permanent decline right now, so it's unclear how much the Tigers can (should?) count on them to improve their performance going forward. They have more flexibility with the other two rotation spots. Either way, these results are nowhere good enough to contend. One ace and four other guys getting knocked around is not a quality rotation.

3. Less headaches from the late-inning relief crew

Ah yes, the bullpen. The Tigers have struggled to put together a reliable bullpen for years now, and it's one of the biggest reasons they were unable to win a title during the glory years from 2011-14. The names have changed by the results stay the same. Take a look at Ausmus' primary end-game relievers:

Games Innings
 ERA WHIP WAR
Francisco Rodriguez
 15 13 2/3 3.95 1.32 +0.1
Mark Lowe
 15 12 1/3 8.76 1.38 -0.7
Alex Wilson
 13 12 2/3 4.26 1.11 0.0
Justin Wilson 18 15 4.20 1.27 0.0

We're only talking about a few dozen innings here. It's important to keep that in mind. Wilson -- Justin, not Alex -- had a 0.00 ERA as recently as 10 games ago, for example. These numbers can change in a hurry.

That said, this foursome has not been a shutdown bullpen so far this season. There have again been lots of late-inning headaches and scary situations. It's a cardiac bullpen for sure. And there's really not much the Tigers can do here. They're paying K-Rod and Lowe good money, and they gave up two prospects to get (Justin) Wilson, so these are the guys.

The Tigers are, understandably, trying to keep their window for contention open as long as possible, hence the Zimmermann and Upton signings. The roster isn't quite as strong as it was a few years back or even early last season, but it is good enough to contend for the postseason spot as long as everyone plays up to their capabilities. Upton, four-fifths of the rotation, and the back-end of the bullpen have not yet done that this season.