With 50 days remaining until the MLB Trade Deadline, Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila will be keeping an open mind as his team continues along in their rebuilding process.
And of course, with several players on the roster who are pending free-agents, Avila may be busy in the days and weeks leading up to the deadline, which falls on July 30.
“At this stage, we have to be open-minded on anything that can make us better as we move forward,” Avila said in a talk with reporters on Friday. “Obviously, we still want to continue to win as many games as we can. That’s really important to us. But at the same time, we can’t ignore the fact that if we have a trade that can make us better for next year and maybe for the rest of this year, we’ve got to consider that.
“I don’t want to circle in on any (specific) names. I would say, at this stage, we’re more apt to keep a good nucleus of players as we move forward and to continue building around those players. But you can’t ignore the fact that there might be a trade that makes you even better than that. That’s why I’m saying you still have to be open-minded.”
Among the players slated to become free-agents include pitcher Jose Urena, infielder Jonathan Schoop, catcher Wilson Ramos, pitcher Daniel Norris and outfielder Nomar Mazara.
And should Avila indeed choose to swing a deal, he’ll be looking for the right kind of contributor to be coming to the Motor City.
“We have to look at what’s the best possible talent we could attract to the team,” Avila said. “If it’s a pitcher that we feel like, ‘Hey, this guy is going to be a big contributor to us,’ then you got to look at that. If it’s going to be a premium position player that can hit, or a pure hitter, we’re going to look at everything.
“We’re going to look at everything and try to make the best deals we can, if they’re out there to be made.”
– – Quotes via Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press Link – –
