Detroit Tigers oddly extend GM Al Avila during fourth of July long weekend

The Detroit Tigers have extended the contract of General Manager Al Avila the team announced Friday afternoon, of the fourth of July long weekend nonetheless.

It’s a bit strange, not necessarily that the organization extended Avila but the timing is just bizarre. Many fans won’t like the move; I’m right there with you, but I understand the reasoning behind the move. The Detroit Tigers describe themselves as being in the second year of a rebuild. To me, the time table doesn’t exactly add up, but that’s mostly because I’ve had a bad taste in my mouth since 2012.

I understand the team has ‘tried’ to be ‘in it’ meaning in contention since the ’17 season. The lack of results under the Al Avila experiment has to be some of the most significant let downs in franchise history. At least with Dave Dombrowski, we had plenty of hope that we could indeed win a World Series title, can you say the same under Al Avila?

Al Avila inherited a WS contender and let’s briefly take a look at what he’s added to try and elevate the Detroit Tigers over the top. Jordan Zimmermann; Washington let him walk because they felt they emptied the tank. His numbers were starting to creep in the wrong direction facing primarily the National League where the pitchers still hit. What did you think would happen when he began facing the American League, where the designated hitter exists?

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The two-time All-Star (both with Washington) has owned a 24-33 record as a member of the Detroit Tigers. He’s in the midst of his fourth year of a five-year $110-million dollar deal. Throughout his Tigers contract, he’s provided a 5.25 ERA; he’s tossed 442 innings allowing 510 hits while yielding 278 runs. He’s struck out 311 batters with a WHIP of 1.405 compared to 1.159 as a member of the Nationals over a seven-year span.

The best signing was Justin Upton, but he’s since been flipped to the Angels in exchange for pitching prospect Grayson Long who hasn’t pitched since 2017. There was also a player to be named later who turned out to be Elvin Rodriguez; a starter who has split the year between Western Michigan and Lakeland. He’s 21-years old with an 8-3 record in single-A ball on his way to recording a solid 3.24 ERA. Still, not a huge return for a player hitting .278 with power and 90-plus RBI’s at the time of the deal.

Other Al Avila free agent signings include; Mike Pelfrey, Mark Lowe, Mike Aviles. This past offseason doesn’t really count as the team was simply putting able bodies in place, allowing the young prospects time to develop on the farm. Although Jordy Mercer, Josh Harrison, Tyson Ross, and Matt Moore didn’t exactly keep fans interested, they are merely just placeholders. Moore sustained a season-ending knee injury early on in the season, while Ross remains on the 60-day injured list with an elbow injury.

I don’t understand the rush to extend Al Avila; he’s currently under contract until the end of next season. Why not wait until the Winter to extend the GM, waiting to see what he can receive in return for Shane Greene and Matt Boyd? He also has to try and find a trade partner for Nicholas Castellanos; a task much easier said than done.

The Detroit Tigers tried to control the negative push back by announcing the extension on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend in the middle of summer. They oddly made the announcement with the Boston Red Sox in town, aka Dave Dombrowski.

Although I don’t agree with it; personally, I’m not convinced Al Avila is the right man for the job; apparently, Chris Ilitch does. The idea of extending the General Manager isn’t the whole problem. He’s started the rebuild so changing the person in charge in the midst could prolonge the timing and direction of the overhaul. I just don’t understand the rush with a year remaining on his deal. The new deal will reportedly take Avila through to at least the end of the 2022 season.