About a week after Tigers owner Chris Ilitch said he was “very pleased with the progress” of the team “despite a very slow start to this season,” general manager Al Avila decided to clear things up.
“Not too long ago on Bally Sports, I said I was not happy. I was very angry, in fact, with how things have turned out,” Avila told reporters Wednesday before the Tigers completed a much-needed four-game sweep of Cleveland at Comerica Park. “We expected to have a better record and we’re working toward that. So, no, nobody’s happy right now – we’re happier now lately, the last few games.”
The last few games have been a breath of fresh air. Still, the Tigers have the third worst record (34-47) in the American League and the worst offense in the majors in a season that was supposed to mark the end of a grueling rebuild. Avila said a “plethora of different things” have led to the club’s struggles.
“Not one player, not one situation. It’s been all over, across the board," he said. "It’s been really a plethora of players, and injures that have compounded it. It’s been a little bit of everything and we’re all responsible. The players have to be accountable, the coaching staff has to be accountable and it all starts with me.
"Now our job is to get it back together. Our hope is that we play more like we played the last few days because that was the expectation coming into the season. That’s what we need to get back to. And coming to the (Aug. 2) trade deadline, hopefully we can make some improvements along the way.”
The Tigers spent heavily in the offseason, including about $215 million on Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez. Baez, despite an All-Star track record, has been one of the worst offensive shortstops in baseball. Rodriguez, signed to be the Tigers ace, got off to a shaky start and hasn’t spoken with the team since taking a leave for a personal matter several weeks ago. It’s unclear if and when he plans to return.
Asked if he made any mistakes assembling the Tigers roster this year, Avila said, “Obviously at this point, you could see that there could have been some mistakes, and we’re trying to correct them. But at the same time, we gotta get the players that we have on the field (to play) better.”
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Avila, 63, is one of MLB’s 10 longest-tenured general managers. He has the worst winning percentage (.415) among them in eight seasons running the Tigers, the bulk of which have coincided with the club’s rebuild. In a vote of confidence for Avila last Friday, Ilitch pointed to the overall progress of the organization and the “young guys that have come up and developed” in Detroit.
Avila said Wednesday that Ilitch was referring to the number of rookies that have stepped up for the Tigers this season, especially amid of rash of injuries in their rotation.
“We’ve brought up some young pitching that has helped us. As we move forward the rest of this season, next season and into the future, you see that there’s some pitching depth there that is going to be good for us in helping us win. Obviously you see Riley Greene coming up and being an impact player right away. And then if you go into the minor leagues, you’ll see that we have certain pockets of hitters moving pretty well, as well as pitchers. These are the things he’s happy about, not necessarily the wins and losses. Nobody’s happy about that," said Avila.
On the eve of Opening Day this season, Ilitch said the rebuild was ‘100 percent’ over. Avila echoed that Wednesday when asked about the team’s approach to the trade deadline. In short, he doesn’t intend for the Tigers to be sellers. As for when they’ll be winners again, that remains anyone’s guess.
“We’re not a rebuilding team anymore,” Avila said. “We want to be better than we are right now, but that doesn’t mean that we have to take a step backward (at the deadline). The step backward is already right now, the beginning of the season and the record we have. We’re going to try to make the team better as we move forward. Whatever that means, whoever we acquire and whatever it takes, we’ll have to consider every option that we have.”
Other highlights from Avila’s discussion with reporters:
On the start of Baez’s Tigers tenure: “If you talk to Baez, he wouldn’t be happy with it either. Obviously he’s a better player than that, his history shows that, and I think he’s working toward that. He’s an impact player. You can see from time to time what he can do, not only defensively but offensively, and he’s still trying to put together a better season. But we’ve got a player that’s in the prime of his career that can make an impact, and that’s what he’s working toward, that kind of consistency.”
On the second half of the season for Jeimer Candelario: “It’s a big second half for Jeimer, no doubt about it. Talk about all the reasons (for our slow start), there’s one more reason. I mean, the guy led the league in doubles last year, two years in a row he’s Mr. Tiger, and he’s struggled this year. It’s kind of spread around the whole team. So yeah, it’s a big second half for him, for sure.”
On trading Isaac Paredes for Austin Meadows: “When you make a trade like that, you’re not making a trade thinking, we’re trading a bad player for a good player. We acquired Paredes (in 2017), we liked Paredes, we thought he was a good player. It’s not like we thought, we’re going to trade this guy who’s not any good. No, we’re trading a player that we thought was good to get a more established Major League-level player that can impact us right now.”
On Paredes’ power numbers with the Rays: “It shouldn’t be a shock because all of us that have been around for a long time, sometimes the power comes later. For me, it’s not like, ‘Oh my god, this is a surprise.’ No, he always had that potential. But when you’re making a trade, you’re thinking about the guy you’re going to get and the impact you’re going to get. Unfortunately, Austin has had a lot of adversity for the first part of the season and here we are, but we still have a ways to go to make that better.”
On injuries to Casey Mize and Matt Manning: “We had a really good plan in their ramp-up and their build-up (after a shortened spring training). It’s not like we rushed them out there. It was pretty slow and deliberate and sometimes these things happen. It happens every year, lockout or no lockout. That’s why I’ve always insisted, the depth of your pitching is really important.
"I think if there's one positive to come out of this, the depth of our pitching has been exposed and it’s been pretty good. That gives us more hope for next year and the near future that we will have good, quality pitching and the depth to be able to compete for a championship. And there are more guys coming, there’s more pitchers coming. We just gotta improve our offense and I think we’ll be able to take off.”
On the reported opt-out in A.J. Hinch’s contract: “There is not an opt-out. I hope that’s the last time I ever have to say it. There is no handshake agreement. It’s a very straightforward, simple, normal contract.”
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