Detroit Tigers: GM Al Avila given multi-year contract extension

The Detroit Tigers announced on Friday that team General Manager Al Avila has signed a multi-year contract extension.

Al Avila has been the man in charge of the Detroit Tigers rebuild since he took over as the team’s GM in 2015. Now, the Tigers organization has decided to stick with him for a few more years as the team announced Avila’s extension on Friday, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press.

Avila’s existing contract was set to expire after the 2020 season, but he will stick around for a few more years, hopefully, to see the rebuilding process to fruition. No details have been released yet to the exact length of Avila’s contract extension.

With the Detroit Tigers entrenched in a deep, full-scale rebuild since about 2017, it seems safe to say some Detroit fans have mixed feelings about the GM. Avila has drafted star prospects such as Casey Mize, Matt Manning, and this year’s number five overall pick Riley Greene, who all look to have tremendous big-league potential someday.

However, Avila also has been more than happy to sell away many of Detroit’s most valuable assets in previous trade deadlines and is sure to do the same this year with players like Matthew Boyd and Shane Greene. Though the trades make sense in terms of the rebuild, fans have started to wonder whether it could turn into a vicious cycle if the team never holds onto anything good that it’s got.

So far, Avila has taken a slow and steady approach to the Detroit Tigers rebuild, which has both pros and cons. He has acquired plenty of prospects and drafted some notable potential future talent, but the long period of non-competitive seasons has some Detroit fans growing anxious and weary. Right now, however, keeping Avila on makes the most sense as he has been in charge of building this team for the future and should be the one to see it through.