Last week, while the Detroit Red Wings were holding their introductory press conference for head coach Derek Lalonde, Chris Ilitch had a head-scratching answer when he was asked about the progress of the Detroit Tigers.
At that time, Ilitch told reporters he is “very pleased” with how things are going with the Tigers.
Well, one person who is not “very pleased” is Tigers general manager, Al Avila.
Prior to Wednesday’s series finale against the Guardians, Avila reiterated what he said not long ago on Bally Sports Detroit.
“Well, not too long ago on Bally Sports, I said I was not happy. I was very angry, as a matter of fact, with how things have turned out,” Avila said Wednesday. “We expected to have a better record, and we’re working toward that.
“Nobody’s happy right now.”
“You’re not looking at one player, not one situation, it’s been all over across the board,” Avila said. “It all starts with me. Your job is to get it back together. … That was the expectation coming into the season, and that’s where we need to get back to.”
Al Avila disagrees with Chris Ilitch, admits mistakes were made
When asked if mistakes have been made, Al Avila admitted that is the case.
“Well, obviously, at this point you can see there could’ve been some mistakes, and we’re trying to correct them,” Avila said in his chat with the beat writers. “And we’re trying to correct them. We’ve gotta get the players that we have on the field better.”
As far as the rebuild being over, Avila said that is still true and that he has no interest in selling away players that are part of the future.
“We want to be better than where we’re at right now,” said Avila, 63, the Tigers’ general manager since 2015. “That doesn’t mean that we have to take a step backward.
“The step backward is already right now, the beginning of the season and the record that we have.”
