MLB: Assessing the AL Central GMs at the midway point

Detroit Tigers, Al Avila, -2.9 games

Avila’s personnel moves haven’t improved the Tigers’ short-term MLB talent profile since 2016, his second season at the helm of the team’s front office. They’re not likely to in 2021, either.

Since the start of the winter 2020-21 maneuvering season, Avila has made 16 statistically impactful personnel acquisitions, almost all of them involving little-known fringe assets. The most visible involved the signing of veteran free agent Robbie Grossman. He’s having a nice season by Tigers standards, with 10 home runs and a .717 OPS. But that’s still only translated to +0.2 games of value as expressed by WAA.

Multiply that insignificance by 16 and you begin to get a feel for why the Tigers have actually done fairly well merely to crawl up to third place in a mediocre division. To that end, Avila has so far gotten a major assist from his fellow AL Central GMs, most of whom are also having sub-par seasons.

Aside from the Grossman signing, here are Avila’s most significant moves in re-shaping the 2021 Tigers.

• Signed free agent pitchers Jose Urena (-1.0) and Derek Holland (-0.8), free agent catcher Wilson Ramos (-0.6), and free agent outfielder Nomar Mazara (-0.9). Total impact on Detroit: -3.3.
• Drafted outfielder Akil Baddoo (+0.7) from the Minnesota Twins organization.
• Promoted rookie pitcher Alex Lange (-0.6).
• Released C.J. Cron (+0.5 for the Colorado Rockies).