With the All-Star break looming, the Detroit Tigers are facing their toughest question in years.

Should Detroit be buyers or sellers at the deadline?

I love this team. I’d bawl if I saw Miguel Cabrera lift that pathetic piece of metal the MLB passes off as a World Series trophy.

And they should be sellers. Pack it up. Wave the flag. Finalize your October plans. Cabo should be nice that time of year.

The Tigers, as has been well-documented, have one of the weakest farm systems in all of baseball.

General Manager Dave Dombrowski made some nice moves last offseason, flipping Rick Porcello (6.08 ERA/1.41 WHIP) for Yoenis Cespedes and Alex Wilson and dealing Devon Travis for Anthony Gose, who has quickly become a fan-favorite in Detroit. But those moves were for 2015. And now it’s time to move on.

Nearly everyone was optimistic coming into the 2015 season. Why shouldn’t they have been? The Tigers were coming off a fourth consecutive AL Central title and, with the exception of the starting rotation, had seemingly bolstered the rest of their roster.

But optimism quickly gave way to frustration, and, going into play on July 8, the Tigers found themselves 7 games back of the first-place Kansas City Royals, and 2.5 games out of the second wildcard spot.

I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t think the Royals were for real after last season’s wild playoff run.

But, bias be damned, they are.

2.5 games out of a wildcard spot is nothing, especially with just half the season over. If the Tigers go out and land a starting pitcher at the deadline (which I expect them to do), they could easily find themselves in the playoffs via a wildcard slot.

But they shouldn’t.

The Tigers have two salivating trade pieces in Cespedes and David Price. Both players are on the final years of their respective contracts and will likely demand $100 million+ long-term contracts in the offseason.

A few teams have the cash to meet those demands. Detroit, with its Mr. Monopoly contracts for Cabrera and Justin Verlander, don’t.

Flip Cespedes and Price for prospects or young, MLB-ready players and call it a season.

If they don’t, they could be calling it a decade.

The team is certainly at a crossroads. The core of Cabrera, Gose, Jose Iglesias, J.D. Martinez, Nick Castellanos and James McCann will be nice in future seasons, and, with the right supporting cast, could be a World Series team by 2020.

But it won’t be next year. Or the year after that. The farm system is simply too depleted.

Fix it. Strengthen it. Stop trying the win now strategy. Look at the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants. Tell me the last time they went all-in on one season. Now look at their successes.

The formula for postseason success in baseball in recent years is simple. Field a team with a shot of sneaking into the playoffs most years, and pray for some luck in October.

It’s easier said than done, and the Cardinals are masters in black magic, but the 2008 Phillies are the last team I can remember that had success with the win now strategy. And where do the Phillies find themselves seven years later?

The Los Angeles Angels… of Anaheim could use outfield help. So could the Pittsburgh Pirates. Or the Chicago Cubs.

I’ve heard the Cubs have a prospect or two.

And what team couldn’t use an elite starting pitcher?

When trying to deal rental players, the team looking to sell often doesn’t have much leverage. Cespedes would be harder to return a stunning package for, but a guy like Price will have enough suitors to drive the price up.

Baseball America recently released its list of Midseason Top 50 Prospects. The Tigers have zero, although former Detroit farmhands Willy Adames and Jake Thompson crack the list.

The Tigers are one of only five teams (Orioles, Diamondbacks, Padres, Giants) without a prospect in the top 50.

Detroit has been a buyer at the trade deadline for the past few seasons. Dombrowski and Ilitch have been as good a GM/Owner combo as there is in baseball.

We all want to see Mr. I get a World Series while he still can. But that year isn’t this year.

The window is drawing closed every day. Don’t prop it open with some shoddy fix. It won’t hold when the pressure builds.

Wait, think and start building a new one.