What a difference a year makes.

A year ago, MLB pundits and fans alike had the 2008 World Series locked before pitchers and catchers even reported to Spring Training. Most had the New York Mets and the Detroit Tigers in this year’s Fall Classic, with the Tigers winning it all after they made a big time splash by getting Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins for six prospects.

With the blockbuster deal completed, there was no way possible that the Tigers wouldn’t reach the World Series, right? Well, not so fast, sparky. After starting the season 0-7, and eventually 2-10, the Tigers never seemed to rebound and suffered through a year of inconsistency and finished the year last in their division. That’s right folks, the Tigers finished behind the Kansas City Royals in he American League Central. Go figure, the favorite to win the American League finishes behind one of the least-respected franchises in all of baseball.

While the Tigers’ offense eventually picked up the pace, their injury-riddled pitching staff did not fare so well and finished 12th in the American League with a 4.90 team ERA. Their prized off-season acquisition, “D-Train” Willis, spent nearly three months in the minor leagues to “work stuff out”. And now, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports that Willis, or fellow southpaw starter Nate Robertson, could be headed to Boston for shortstop Julio Lugo.

The deal would make sense for Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski because they do not plan on offering free agent to-be shortstop Edgar Renteria a new contract, which would leave them looking for a new starter at that position. While maybe reluctant to enter the Rafael Furcal bidding war that’s currently taking place in the California Bay area, Lugo would bring veteran leadership and stability to a Tigers’ clubhouse that suffered its worse season since manager Jim Leyland took over in 2006.

Here’s the real question at hand that has puzzled not only Leyland, but is also probably puzzling Red Sox GM Theo Epstein: what caused the D-Train to derail in Detroit? Some follow-up questions that could be asked of this potential deal: “Will this move work?” and “How many starts would it take before Willis is booed out of Fenway and placed on waivers,”. After being recalled from Triple-A Toledo, Willis gave up 12 earned runs to go along with 14 walks in only 12.2 innings in three September starts.

Outings like the ones Willis had in ‘08 showed that he may need to spend more time in the minors to “work stuff out”. It would be, ahem, very unfortunate to see the great Red Sox Nation suffer through several D-Train outings as the poor fans in Comerica Park did this past season. Epstein might want to refund his ticket to board the D-Train and begin inquiring about Robertson’s services instead.