The Tigers can avoid becoming the Phillies... if they don't re-sign Scherzer. Which they won't, if DD has any sense.
Price/Verlander/Sanchez/Cueto or Latos/Greene is great.
Even Price/Verlander/Sanchez/Greene/Lobstein is fine.
The Tigers should not let Boras take them for all they have.
The team is already full of sunk costs in the long term. Might as well concede that and focus on the short term. Unless you think the nearly $80-90M we're going to be paying just for Verlander, Cabrera, Martinez, and Fielder in 2016+ won't be an anchor around the future of the team.
David Price is likely to get a bigger contract next year than what Scherzer will get in this one. Sanchez is a free agent the year after that. This team is set up for being an expensive mess in a couple of years. Might as well go all in now; doubtful any future owner is likely to spend as freely as Illitch.
With their TV deal set to expire in a few years it's probably a good idea to spend what they can to keep fans interested in the short term. A collapse in the standings would lead to a collapse in attendance and ratings and asking price for a new deal.
I don't like the idea of giving another arm big dollars for an extended period of time; but it's clear the Tigers are trying to win now. If you're trying to win now then you make long term sacrifices. I would have been ok with the Tigers selling off and building for their future too, but with their trades and signings it's obvious they're not going that direction. And there's no point in trying to be the Blue Jays or Brewers or Diamondbacks of baseball, where you spend enough to barely tease contention and rarely are bad enough to stack your farm system to give hope for the future.