Detroit Tigers: Translating Al Avila’s Summer Camp Quotes

In hopes, we never see another Summer Camp again outside of a corny ’80s movie, the Detroit Tigers end camp on an optimistic point of view according to Al Avila.

General Manager Al Avila spoke to the media yesterday after summer camp ended in regards to the Detroit Tigers’ future. There seemly are many schools of thought among Tigers’ fans about his comments and roster choices so far. There are “We want Casey Mize right now” crowd or the “Tank for Kumar Rocker” folks.

So with all the comments out there by Al Avila, let’s try to see if we can decipher GM talk and come up with our interpretation of answers.  Avila is a lot different than former GM Dave Dombrowski when it comes to quotes to the media, meaning he always seems to be much more direct. But it’s always open to interpretation so I am playing the role of interpreter.

‘Fans should know that we are on the right track’

MCB Translation: Our 2020 draft class was so good that everyone praised it across the board. Yes, we got one of the best bats in recent memory with Spencer Torkelson and Dillon Dingler fell into our lap.

“Here’s a guy that all of a sudden, he’s looking different, “And we were cautiously optimistic and a little excited about seeing him develop.”

MCB translation: The Derek Hill pick is finally paying off. To a degree, of course. Hill still needs to show he can hit on this level but he showed off his speed and his glove in summer camp. And he is still one of the 11 players left before Detroit finalizes their roster.

“From the time we drafted him, which was not very long ago, physically speaking, he’s already developing into a man from a young man”

MCB Translation: Riley Greene had a kick-ass summer camp, can play both corner spots, and could be in the majors soon. His work ethic has impressed us all. Our front office is doing high fives around here because we think we got it right.

“He’s got time to continue to build, continue to work on all his pitches, stay healthy, stay fit and get yourself ready for when your time comes, and when we call down there, everybody says he’s ready go”

MCB Translation: Chill everyone, Casey Mize will get a call up within a few weeks. So social media warriors, relax, let me get around this service time and he will be up I-75 in no time.

“He’s still one of the guys that we’re looking at as one of the special players in our near future,” “He’s just got to hone some things out with the hitting. We think he’s made a lot of progress. I don’t think he’s got too far to go.” (speaking about Jake Rogers)

MCB Translation: I mean, wow. We may have rushed him up last year but his reworked swing needs some more at-bats down in Toledo because Grayson Greiner had an impressive camp too. But Romine is here, what, a few more months? Rogers is fine, just need to make sure that bat keeps getting better.

“We’re cautiously, optimistically happy, I guess you could say,” “I guess I’m not going to be totally happy until we start winning games and being a legitimate playoff contender and get into the playoffs. The day I’ll be happy is when we’re in the playoffs. The day I’ll be happiest is when we’re in the World Series. So there’s a long way to go.

MCB Translation: Yeah, we still have work to do.

“We want to win as many games as we can, “If we can sneak into the playoffs because we get a good start, we can get into a nice little run, and then all of a sudden, we’re in it. That would be nice to see, obviously. So as an organization, you still have the hope that things click your way from injuries, avoiding the virus, having guys being able to perform up to their capabilities, up to their talent. If you have that, then we have a good chance.”

MCB Translation: Anything is possible but if everyone has a career year, who knows what may happen. Is it likely? Probably not. I mean, Minnesota and Cleveland are still really good but crazier things have happened.

The role of a translator according to Lingualinx.com is:

"To author a piece of writing. This may seem like an odd notion at first glance since the translator is not usually the original writer of the text being translated, but a good translation should read as though it were originally written in the target language."

MCB hoped it accomplished there was a message for every section of Tigers fans. From the cynic who criticize every move to the die-hard fan who will not question Al Avila’s rebuilding plan, the quotes provide the current state of the Detroit Tigers as they kick off the strange, 60-game schedule on Friday.