Al Avila

Last updated
Al Avila
Born (1958-08-02) August 2, 1958 (age 66)
Havana, Cuba
Alma mater St. Thomas University
Occupation General manager
SpouseYamile Avila
Children Alex Avila
Alan Avila
Annelisa Marie Avila

Al Avila (born August 2, 1958) is a Cuban-born baseball executive. He was the executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Contents

Early life

Avila was born in Cuba. His family defected to the United States when he was a child. [1]

Career

St. Thomas University

Avila was the assistant baseball coach to Paul Mainieri at St. Thomas University, his alma mater, in 1988. The following season he was promoted to coach when Mainieri left for the Air Force Academy. Avila remained in that position, and also served as the school's athletics director, until he joined the expansion Florida Marlins' front office in 1992. [2]

Florida Marlins

In June 1992, Avila joined the Florida Marlins as the assistant director of Latin American operations. After two seasons with the Marlins, he was promoted to director of Latin American operations. Under Avila's guidance, the Marlins signed 1997 NLCS and World Series MVP Liván Hernández, during Florida's World Series run.

Avila was named director of scouting for the Marlins in July 1998, where he was responsible for all of the Marlins scouting efforts on both the national and international levels and he oversaw the development of those players in the baseball academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Avila helped sign 16-year-old Miguel Cabrera in 1999, who debuted in the major leagues in 2003 and hit four home runs during Florida's second World Series run. [3]

Avila served as the interim general manager for the Marlins during the 2001 off-season following Dave Dombrowski's departure to the Detroit Tigers. He was named the Marlins vice president and assistant general manager in July 2001. [4]

Pittsburgh Pirates

On January 23, 2002, Avila was hired as a special assistant to Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield. [5]

Detroit Tigers

On April 15, 2002, Avila was named the assistant general manager and vice president of the Detroit Tigers. [6]

On August 4, 2015, Avila was promoted to general manager and executive vice president of baseball operations, after Dombrowski was released by the Tigers. [7] Avila became the first Cuban-born general manager in baseball history. [8] On July 5, 2019, the Tigers announced they signed Avila to a multi-year contract extension. [9]

On August 10, 2022, the Tigers fired Avila. [10] [11] At the time of his firing, Avila was the only general manager of Latin American descent in Major League Baseball. [12]

Personal

His father, Ralph Avila, was the vice president of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and was the senior scouting advisor for the Dodgers. [13] His son, Alex Avila, was a catcher for various teams the major leagues and is now an analyst for MLB Network. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Ng</span> American baseball executive

Kimberly J. Ng is an advisor with Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball and was recently an American executive in Major League Baseball. She is the former general manager of the Miami Marlins. She was the first woman to serve as general manager of a team in the Big Four leagues in North America and the first person of East Asian descent to serve as general manager of an MLB team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Trammell</span> American baseball player, coach and manager (born 1958)

Alan Stuart Trammell is an American former professional baseball shortstop, manager and coach and member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a player. His entire 20-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) was with the Detroit Tigers. Trammell has served as a special assistant to the General Manager of the Detroit Tigers since the 2014 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Dombrowski</span> American baseball executive (born 1956)

David Dombrowski is an American baseball executive who serves as the president of baseball operations for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Dombrowski also previously served as the general manager of the Montreal Expos, the general manager and president of the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers, and president of baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox. He has helped build four different franchises into pennant-winning teams, and he has won the World Series twice — with the Marlins in 1997 and the Red Sox in 2018.

Kenneth Royal Williams is an American former outfielder in Major League Baseball and a former Executive Vice President of the Chicago White Sox.

John E. Boles Jr. is an American former professional baseball front-office executive, manager in minor league and Major League Baseball, and college baseball head coach. As of 2013, he was the senior adviser to the general manager for player development for the Kansas City Royals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Allen</span> American baseball player and analyst (born 1959)

Roderick Bernet Allen is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current game analyst for the Miami Marlins on Bally Sports Florida. He formerly worked as an analyst for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports Detroit and Fox Saturday Baseball. He played for the Seattle Mariners, Tigers, and Cleveland Indians of the Major League Baseball (MLB), and also the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously worked as an analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

William Richard Lajoie was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and front-office executive. The general manager of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball from 1984 to 1990, he helped to build, then served as GM of, the world champion 1984 Tigers.

Randy Smith is an American professional baseball executive. He has served as general manager of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres (1993–95) and Detroit Tigers (1996–2002), and as assistant general manager for the Colorado Rockies (1991–93). He works with the front office of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball and, as of 2018, also serves as a professional scout for MLB's Texas Rangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Kelly (baseball)</span> American baseball player and coach (born 1980)

Donald Thomas Kelly is an American professional baseball utility player and coach. He is the bench coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Pirates, Detroit Tigers, and Miami Marlins. Kelly played every position on the field in the major leagues, including pitcher. Over the course of his career, he mainly played the outfield and third base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Wren</span>

Franklin E. Wren is an American front office executive in Major League Baseball. He began his baseball career as a minor league player for the Montreal Expos and later joined the team as an executive. Wren moved to the Florida Marlins in 1991, then was hired by the Baltimore Orioles in 1998 for his first stint as a general manager. After the season, Wren was hired by the Atlanta Braves. The Braves promoted Wren to general manager in 2007, a role he kept until 2014. He joined the Boston Red Sox in September 2015.

Michael L. Hill is the senior vice president of on-field operations for Major League Baseball and the former president of baseball operations for the Miami Marlins baseball club. Hill served as general manager of the Marlins from 2007 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Reid (baseball)</span> American baseball player, scout, and executive (1947–2021)

Scott Donald Reid was an American baseball outfielder who played two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He appeared in 38 games for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1969 to 1970. He went on to serve as a major league scout or executive for over 40 years, most recently for the Detroit Tigers from 2002 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Gomes</span> American baseball player and executive (born 1984)

Brandon Gomes is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current baseball executive. He played for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2011 to 2015. After his playing career ended, Gomes joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as a pitching coordinator. He was successively promoted to director of player development in 2017, an assistant general manager in 2019, and general manager in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Avila</span> American baseball player (born 1987)

Alexander Thomas Avila is an American former professional baseball catcher. Between 2009 and 2021 he played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals. Avila is the son of former Tigers general manager Al Avila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Anthopoulos</span> Canadian professional baseball executive

Alex Anthopoulos is a Canadian professional baseball executive, currently working as the general manager and president of baseball operations for the Atlanta Braves. He was the senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2010 to 2015, for whom he began as a scouting coordinator in 2003. Prior to the Blue Jays, Anthopoulos got his start in professional baseball with the Montreal Expos organization in 2000. In 2015, he was named the Sporting News Executive of the Year after the Blue Jays advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 1993, reaching the American League Championship Series (ALCS). However, his term with the Blue Jays ended on October 29, 2015, when he declined a five-year contract extension. He served for two years as vice president of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Castellanos</span> American baseball player (born 1992)

Nicholas Alexander Castellanos is an American professional baseball right fielder and third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Greene</span> American baseball pitcher (born 1988)

Shane Greene is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Texas Rangers organization. He has previously played in MLB for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. The Yankees selected Greene in the 15th round of the 2009 MLB draft. After Greene made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2014, he was traded to the Tigers before the 2015 season. Greene was an All-Star in 2019.

Michael Norman Hazen is an American professional baseball executive and current executive vice president and general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). A Princeton University graduate and former minor league outfielder, he previously served as the GM and senior vice president of the Boston Red Sox and worked under Ben Cherington.

Scott Harris is an American baseball executive. He is the president of baseball operations of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball, after having previously served as general manager of the San Francisco Giants.

References

  1. ↑ Seidel, Jeff (August 8, 2015). "New top Tiger Al Avila was born into baseball". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  2. ↑ Wasserstrom, Chuck. "Al Avila Discusses St. Thomas University: MLBTR College Series". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  3. ↑ Bull, Kevin (July 16, 2001). "Tigers' Avila had been up for other GM jobs before". Detroit Free Press . Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  4. ↑ O'Brien, David (July 16, 2001). "Avila Promoted To Assistant GM". Sun-Sentinel . Archived from the original on December 6, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Pirates Hire Avila As Ass't to GM". Huron Daily Tribune . January 23, 2002. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ Simon, Andrew (August 4, 2015). "Avila replaces Dombrowski as Tigers GM". MLB.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ Fenech, Anthony (August 4, 2015). "Tigers release Dombrowski, promote Avila to GM". Detroit Free Press . Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  8. ↑ Navarro, Manny (August 4, 2015). "South Florida's Al Avila becomes first Cuban-born GM in baseball". Miami Herald . Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  9. ↑ Fenech, Anthony (July 5, 2019). "Detroit Tigers GM Al Avila receives 'multi-year' contract extension". Detroit Free Press . Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  10. ↑ Beck, Jason (August 10, 2022). "Tigers part ways with GM Al Avila". MLB.com. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  11. ↑ Petzold, Evan (August 10, 2022). "Detroit Tigers fire general manager Al Avila after 7 seasons". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  12. ↑ Passan, Jeff (August 10, 2022). "Al Avila fired as vice president, general manager of Detroit Tigers" . Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  13. ↑ Reid, Jason (March 19, 1999). "Dodgers' Dominican Dandy Avila to Retire at Year's End". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  14. ↑ Dougherty, Jesse. "Nationals agree to one-year contract with backup catcher Alex Avila". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2021-02-28.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Detroit Tigers general manager
2015–2022		Succeeded by
TBD
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.