NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila is walking on a tightrope.
He has been since the outset of the off-season, when, as transparently as he could, Avila laid out the Tigers’ winter plans.
On that mid-October afternoon at Comerica Park, Avila talked about how changes are coming to the organization. He spoke about the start of a process, about getting younger, about reducing payroll, about keeping in contention.
“That’s a tightrope we have to walk on,” Avila said back then. “We certainly want to stay competitive, we certainly want to try and get back into the playoffs.