Sports

Barring An Abrupt Change, Detroit Tigers' Al Avila Must be Fired -- Wojo

July 18, 2022, 7:01 AM

Featured_screen_shot_2016-03-01_at_7.48.49_am_20688
Al Avila

This was supposed to be the year the Detroit Tigers were finally going to be really good.

That hasn't happened, leading Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski to write:

A season billed as the end of the rebuild has turned into utter, historic misery, unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The offense is threatening franchise and MLB records for ineptitude. Four-fifths of the starting rotation has been injured or absent. Experienced players with decent tracks record are inexplicably crafting new abysmal track records....

Barring sudden signs of a rebound, GM Al Avila has to be dismissed. Chris Ilitch will have to fire (or bump to a different role) a loyal 20-year employee and get more aggressive reshaping his franchise. That would make angry Tigers fans feel better, but it’s far from an automatic fix. Just like spending on pricey free agents — Javier Báez, Eduardo Rodriguez — hasn’t fixed anything. Perhaps Ilitch would make a big-name GM hire, like he did with the Wings and Steve Yzerman. Perhaps a rising internal candidate such as vice president Sam Menzin, 32, could be tabbed.

Way too many changes are needed on the roster to ignore the fate of the man who assembled it. The rebuild unofficially began in 2017 with the trades of J.D. Martinez and Justin Verlander, and the task still looks enormous, with minimal options for Avila.

The Tigers are 37-55 going into the All-Star break. 


Read more:  Detroit News


Leave a Comment:

Photo Of The Day