I’ve said it from the beginning. I don’t trust Al Avila to rebuild the Detroit Tigers into World Series contenders.
Though I’ve continued to hope I end up being 100% wrong on that account, a recent report by Anthony Fenech has me thinking otherwise.
According to Fenech’s sources, Avila turned down a couple of trade offers for Michael Fulmer which included former MVP candidates.
From Detroit Free Press:
Two seasons ago, they were aggressively approached about right-hander Michael Fulmer, who was coming off an AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2016 and was the Tigers’ All-Star representative in 2017. In what looms as the biggest mistake of their rebuilding process, the team rebuffed an offer for Fulmer involving two young players who are now among the best in baseball: According to multiple persons with knowledge of the talks, the Cubs offered shortstop Javier Baez as part of a three-player package and the Astros offered third baseman Alex Bregman for Fulmer and lefty reliever Justin Wilson.
Last season, Baez, 26, finished second in NL Most Valuable Player Award voting. Bregman, 25, finished fifth in AL MVP voting. Both are considered franchise players.
Fenech goes on to note that neither of those players had broken out quite yet, which isn’t the only reason Avila’s decision to turn the trades down is defensible.
