https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2019/11/25/bust-a-move/
BUST A MOVE.
Totally Tigers
Back in August 2015, Al Avila became General Manager and was rewarded with a 5-year contract. Tiger ownership said that the 5 years was necessary as that was the amount of time needed in order for Avila to get the Tigers back into playing competitive baseball.
And yet, with more than a year to go and no evidence of a rebuild even taking place, Chris Ilitch extended Al?s contract for a super secret number of years. A first in MLB while also being a contradictory statement of support. Not revealing a single shred of the contract details shows that the owner is either embarrassed to own his action or that it was done to facilitate an imminent sale of the team. Only one of these options makes sense.
Nonetheless, Avila goes into his 5th off-season where the vision and planning of how to construct the team is done. It is the most important part of any GM?s job.
Al has been in the crosshairs of fans throughout this time period as they point to this trade or that trade as having failed. But is it right to cherry pick a handful of trades?
Shouldn?t we be looking at his entire resume of trades and signings? Wouldn?t that be a more accurate assessment?
I hope you?re saying ?yes? because I did all the legwork for you. I have that complete list of Al?s work since he took over.
The majority of his significant moves took place between 2015 ? 2017. After that, most of the Tigers? transactions involved releasing players and signing those plucked off the waiver wire. An astounding number of older journeymen were signed to minor league contracts with the hope that the Tigers might get lucky and fill a hole in the Detroit roster. That project did not turn out well at all.
Excluding the minor league contracts and waiver wire grabs, I?ve listed all the moves Al has made since he took over from Dave Dombrowski. The vast majority of the prospects gained are currently sitting in A and AA ball, with just a handful of players having a short taste of MLB so far.
Take a look and judge for yourself. We already know the outcomes of some of these moves. But what about the others? What are the chances that some of them will actually evolve into smart moves?
