The Detroit Tigers fired general manager Al Avila last week, ending a seven-year tenure that produced one winning season and zero playoff appearances. To be fair, Avila oversaw a rebuild for most of his reign. He likely hoped to mimic the Cubs and the Astros, two clubs who suffered upfront as a vehicle to later lift a trophy, but he couldn't figure out the exact recipe that lifted those franchises from the bottom to the top.
He tried to add his own Jon Lester or Justin Verlander and jumpstart the Tigers' competitive cycle last offseason, signing free-agent left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez and shortstop Javier Báez to lucrative long-term contracts. Those moves have failed to achieve the desired effect in Year 1; instead, the Tigers are on schedule to extend their playoff drought to eight years by winning fewer than 40 percent of their games for the fifth time in six tries. To make matters worse, perceived foundational pieces and former No. 1 picks Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize have had disappointing seasons. Torkelson because of his play, Mize because of injury.
The next Tigers general manager will have their paws full correcting Avila's mistakes and trying to get the franchise back on track. Those won't be the only challenges that come with the job, either. They'll also have to deal with an accomplished manager who has more stroke than his peers; an owner who is trying to escape the shadow of his late father (and his wallet); and a fan base that has grown weary after years of rudderless rebuilding. Other than that, it's a golden opportunity for whichever enterprising executive gets their name put on the big office's door.
Below, CBS Sports has provided a deeper dive on the Tigers organization (and the headaches that await) by breaking down Detroit's big-league roster, farm system, and budget, as well as addressing three major questions about the situation.
Big-league outlook
It's not a pretty situation. The Tigers have shown little ability to develop hitters or to help their starting pitchers miss bats. To wit, they have 14 players with at least 100 plate appearances: only one of them (Harold Castro) has an OPS+ above 100; they also have had 11 pitchers start at least five times, and none of them averaged so much as a strikeout per inning (though Tarik Skubal came close, at 8.9).
These Tigers have been so thwarted by underperformance and injury that it's difficult to find exceptions. Skubal, Mize, and rookie starter Beau Brieske are on the shelf because of arm woes; Torkelson and fellow top prospect Riley Greene have scuffled; multi-year veteran additions like Rodriguez, Báez, and Austin Meadows (acquired this spring in exchange for Isaac Paredes) have failed to hit their benchmarks; and so on. Rodriguez, Báez, and Meadows have enough of a track record to expect some kind of positive regression heading forward — or, at least, that's the optimistic conclusion.
The Tigers' youngsters don't have the benefit of the past working in their favor, but they do have the hopes of the future riding on their backs. If they're good, there's a pathway here for Detroit to become a competitive team; if they're not, there aren't enough reinforcements coming to make up for it. That's why it's concerning that Torkelson was one of the worst-performing players in the majors prior to his demotion. He hasn't hit much better since heading to the minors, accumulating a .664 OPS in 93 plate appearances. The offensive bar for right-right first basemen is so high that he'll have to really, really hit heading forward to stand out from the crowd.