Tigers graciously you finally make the right decision with Al Avila

Detroit baseball fans have weathered nearly a decade of poor management by Tigers GM Al Avila. Eventually the property pulled the plug.

How many build-up years are too many build-up years?

Avila He’s wasted the last few years of Miguel Cabrera’s career, mismanaging one of baseball’s most elite farming systems, failing to take advantage of high draft picks annually AND trading countless veterans for what can only be described as a lack of return.

Nevertheless he received coincidence upon coincidence, and was repeatedly apologized for. Until now.

On Wednesday afternoon, Chris Ilitch and the owners of the Detroit Tigers announced a leadership change in the front office.

Avila is by most accounts one of the nicest men in baseball. But being a nice guy shouldn’t have bought him seven remodeling seasons.

Detroit Tigers fire Al Avila

22 years with an organization is a long time, and that’s not to say Avila wasn’t responsible for something good during his time at MoTown. Avila worked in the same front office overseeing a perennial favorite from 2005. He also oversaw its decline and now its stagnation.

There is no rebuilding in Detroit. The Tigers are about to rebuild their own rebuild. It’s a reverse rebuild, if you will.

While Avila is often the face of fan frustration, this organization’s ineptitude starts at the top. Chris Ilitch has failed to live up to his father’s reputation — with both the Tigers and the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit has been miserable as a sports city for far too long. In order for the Tigers to take a step in the right direction, Ilitch must step out of his father’s shadow and make his own choices – not just making the right choices about who will run the front office once Avila leaves, but making his own field product, that he puts out every day.

It’s about time the Tigers accurately represented Detroit again. A small step is progress, but not enough.