- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Avila: Tigers don’t have to shed salaries
- Updated: December 6, 2016
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Change is coming to the Tigers — eventually.
General manager Al Avila proclaimed the change in October and reinforced it on Monday as baseball’s Winter Meetings began with Detroit as a potential seller and a suddenly thrifty spender. But change, Avila argued, might come slower than expected.
If the Tigers can’t work suitable trades for their stars, Avila suggested, they might not happen at all this offseason. And a team that seemed on the verge of an offseason breakup might go into Spring Training with nearly the same group — and the same payroll concerns — as it did in 2016.
• Hot Stove Tracker
If the Tigers do make a trade this week, Avila said, it’ll be because they want to, not because they have to.
“We would like to shed some of that payroll,” Avila said, “but quite frankly, if it’s not a deal that we feel is fair for the Detroit Tigers, that will help us, there’s no demand to dump the salary.”
Although Avila said nothing has changed since he talked about fiscal discipline after the season, Monday’s caution seemed at least like a slower pace in the same direction. Detroit’s talks with teams this week will tell whether it’s a negotiating tactic.
Though Avila said he resumed talks with teams from earlier this offseason and started new ones with several others, he cautioned that none fell under his category of “hot and heavy.” Other clubs have suggested that the Tigers want more — in some cases, much more — for veteran players than they either expected or are willing to give.
That perception, Avila said, might have come from a mischaracterization of what the team wants to do, though last month’s trade of Cameron …
