The Detroit Tigers were back in action at Comerica Park on Thursday night, playing another intrasquad game as the regular season opener inches ever so closer.
During the broadcast, Tigers GM Al Avila was interviewed during gameplay, and he shared some of his thoughts regarding the upcoming season as well as the moves he made during the offseason.
Just as his interview was starting, C.J. Cron smashed a home run into the left-field bullpen, prompting an immediate question regarding his signing, as well as Austin Romine and Cameron Maybin:
“It was big,” he said of those transactions. “We identified those guys, we had our list of guys and those guys were definitely guys we were hoping to get, and we were fortunate enough to do so. They produced at the major league level the year before, bringing power and a veteran presence that makes us better.”
Avila was then asked how he can tell that some of the younger players who had been in the minor leagues were ready to take the next step to the majors, such as 19 year old Riley Greene.
“Here, obviously at summer camp, they've been impressive,” he said. “Riley Green has been everything you'd want out of the guy. But obviously, this is a tough year in that there's no minor league season. It would have been great to have these guys play a minor league season and see them climb the ladder, but we're doing the second best thing that we can do which is to bring them here for a little bit of good competition.”
The full interview can be viewed here:
As C.J. Cron clears the wall in left for a big fly, we bring in the man who signed him! Tigers GM Al Avila joins our guys to chat all things @tigers.#SummerCamp pic.twitter.com/9Ok7foU5Dd
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) July 16, 2020
