Detroit Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch saw promise where few did two years ago when he extended general manager Al Avila’s contract. It was an unpopular move that came after one of the worst seasons in recent memory.
Avila’s trades hadn’t produced much. His draft picks weren’t showing much. And the big-league club looked a half-decade away from winning baseball.
“At the end, when you start seeing it all come together, you can see the light,” Avila said after his extension. “But right now, in the middle, it’s like the darkest hour. That’s what we’re going through.”
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A little more than two years later, Avila sat on a dais inside the Tigers Club at Comerica Park Tuesday morning espousing the kind of sunshine that’s suddenly much easier to see. And he should’ve. He’s earned it. The hard way.
Not that Avila wanted to gloat. He knows as much as anyone that there is still much work to do.
Still, if he can pull this off, if he can push this franchise back to the playoffs and back into contention, he’ll have done something that few general managers in Detroit sports ever have: Weather the ire of an angry fan base that wanted him out just a few months ago — and had for at least a couple of years.
Avila is changing the narrative of his tenure. And while you can argue that any general manager might succeed if the owner shows enough patience, I’d gently remind you that not everyone does.
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No wonder he was smiling during Tuesday’s news conference. No wonder he spoke with relaxed, even breezy confidence.
“Going what we went through, going through what I personally went through, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” he said Tuesday. “But I signed up for it and knew what it was. So yeah, at this point it’s somewhat satisfying to get here, but there’s a long way to go. As a matter of fact, I’m more motivated now because you can see that light at …”
Well, you get the idea.
The tunnel. It can be hellish.
It helps that a couple of feet to Avila’s left sat AJ Hinch, who gets most of the credit for the Tigers’ summer surge to relevance. He probably should. He’s one of the best managers in baseball, and his keen eye for human nature combined with his analytical mind upended the clubhouse culture in the best possible way.
Yet Avila convinced him to come to Detroit.
Yes, Hinch arrived with baggage. And, yes, he probably wouldn’t have been available had he not lost his job for his role in the Houston Astros cheating scandal.
But Avila deserves credit for taking the chance, and for envisioning what Hinch might do with his roster. He also deserves credit for remaking baseball operations, scouting departments, minor league systems, and reconsidering just about every facet of how the Tigers were run from top to bottom.
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Much of that work was away from the public eye. Much of that work is why Ilitch extended Avila two years ago.
“It’s clear to anyone that follows Tigers baseball that our organization is undergoing a significant transformation,” Illitch said after the extension. “I’ve been impressed with Al’s leadership and focus, and the steadfast way he has led our baseball operations since becoming general manager.”
Maybe some thought Ilitch had to say that, or, more cynically, assumed Avila was the perfect steward for a business for which the owner didn’t want to spend. Part of this is true: Ilitch didn’t want to spend.
Turns out Ilitch wanted to see more progress on the diamond before opening the bank. But he’d seen enough progress off it to believe in Avila.
And while that may sound like fluff-n-stuff, the play this summer suggests it wasn’t. This franchise is showing it can find and develop players. Hinch is at the center of this. Avila’s reboot is, too.
It’s hard to remember the last time a general manager reshaped how much of a fan base thought of them in so little time. Back in the late spring, when the Tigers looked like the worst team in baseball, the call for Avila’s head was almost deafening.
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Now?
There is a growing sense that he might be able to pull this off.
He’ll have to nail this offseason — a shortstop (no, it doesn’t need to be a $200 million player), a veteran starting pitcher, and a catcher would help. He’ll have to hope that the youngsters — those both already here and on the way — continue to grow and stay healthy. And he’ll still have to build judiciously.
Avila said he wasn’t going to spend like a “drunken sailor.”
But he’ll be able to spend more than he has in several years, with Ilitch’s blessing, because the owner has seen what everyone else has: this team played winning baseball the last three months.
Avila had his hand all over it.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.