Kirk Gibson called into 97.1 The Ticket go give his opinion on the Al Avila multi-year contract extension. The extension for the Tigers' general manager happened the day after the Fourth of July when the world was at the lake so we thought it was worth revisiting on Monday.
So, what did he have to say?
"I've been in the minor leagues, it does take time. I was just in Chicago," Gibson said. "They're in year three of the rebuild, we're in year two. Al's making smart decisions based not just on who people want to see but based upon when players are ready. And you've got to think about the financial aspects of the organization (which are) are important too. If you think about 2003 when Tram was there and I was the bench coach, we kind of bit the bullet. It was ugly, we lost 119 games. Jim Leyland came in, he did a heck of a job and we had a heck of a run.
"It takes time, it takes patience."
Gibson was talking to Jeff Riger, who was filling in on The Valenti Show.
Riger argued that the difference was that talent came into play for Leyland, including Justin Verlander and Miggy Cabrera. Those star players spurred the upswing.
"We haven't heard of these 'can't -missers' who are going to come up and help this rebuild," Riger argued. "That, to me, is troublesome."
Gibson, who had accused Riger of sounding confused with his opinion that he wasn't sure if Avila's extension was a good move, defended the development of Matt Manning and Casey Mize. They could be the next 'can't miss' guys, he said.
Riger wasn't fully convinced.
"When this team is this bad, it's a really bad look, bad optics to announce it (the contract) today knowing that the fan base hates this guy," Riger said.
Gibson concluded by saying Avila has made smart decisions. Good things are on the horizon, he added.
"What I'm saying is be patient, don't be frustrated," he said. "Just trust that we'll have our time again."
