Miguel Cabrera during off season (File photo)
Miguel Cabrera during off season
After the Detroit Tigers' disappointing season ended last year, General Manager Al Avila vowed to essentially dismantle the team, reduce the hefty salaries payouts and make it younger. He dealt away center fielder Cameron Maybin, and so it seemed, the the dismantling had begun.
But now it looks as if the team is going to stay pat and not started dealing away its gems.
That's a good thing, Detroit News sports columnist Bob Wojnowski thinks. So do the players.
A full rebuild by the Tigers never made sense, not with high-monied stars such as Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander, not with a deeply invested owner in Mike Ilitch. General manager Al Avila swears it never was the complete plan, and no, he’s not surprised the team opened TigerFest Thursday with essentially the roster that missed the playoffs the past two seasons.
It’s the same reason the Ilitch-owned Red Wings resist a tear-down and build-up. It’s difficult to sell fans on a new competitive structure after years of contention, just as a new infrastructure is erected. The Tigers made one semi-significant offseason trade, dealing center fielder Cameron Maybin for a middlin’ prospect, and if you’re in the shake-it-up camp, you’d say Avila failed, so far.
I don’t think so, not yet. If he made a mistake, it was touting the possibility of major changes to make the team younger and less salary-bloated. Those remain the goals, but Avila repeatedly said it could be a three-to-four-year process. The bigger mistake would’ve been dealing prime players — J.D. Martinez, Ian Kinsler, Justin Upton, etc. — for lesser, cheaper players in a weak market when a total rebuild wasn’t feasible.
