Tigers owner Chris Illitch throws Al Avila under the bus after firing him

The Detroit Tigers have finally fired general manager Al Avila. Currently in the midst of a terrible season — they're the third worst team in the MLB record-wise — Detroit has finally decided to pull the plug.

Detroit will undoubtedly finish with a losing record this season, which means that if we're playing by baseball rules (with earned runs and such), Avila will have six straight losing seasons on his record. He's only been the Tigers' general manager for seven, which goes to show you just how bad he's been.

If Avila ever had a chance to defend himself, he'd probably point out the fact that the Tigers have been hit by the injury bug at seemingly a historic clip this season. Detroit's failures in 2022 have been so much more than that, though.

Rookie first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who Avila drafted No. 1 overall in the 2020 MLB Draft, started the season with the big club but was demoted back to AAA after putting together a terrible slash line of .187/.282/.295 in 83 games.

Shortstop Javier Báez, Avila's big offseason signing, started the season looking absolutely lost at the plate and he still only has 10 home runs to his name along with a .219 batting average, .263 OBP and .370 slugging percentage. It's the worst offensive season of his career.

Those are just two major disappointments from this season and two reasons of many Detroit has struggled so mightily this year. Again, though, the story of Avila's failure in Detroit goes back even further than that.

The Tigers have finished in last place in a usually subpar American League Central in four of Avila's seven seasons, and they're on their way to a fifth finish at the bottom of the division.

Then there's the trading block, a place where Avila has been fleeced over the years. Notably, Avila traded away a trio of stars — Justin Verlander, JD Martinez, and Justin Upton — in 2017.

He basically got back nothing.   

It's worth repeating that the Tigers still haven't seen a productive return for those three superstars. That's unacceptable for any general manager, let alone one with a history of not fielding a winner. 

The results were so bad, in fact, that Tigers owner Chris Illitch made it clear that he had no hand in those trades. While kicking Avila out the door, he also made sure to throw him under the bus.

"I didn't trade those players away," Ilitch said according to ESPN. "Our general manager did. Al did."

Whichever direction the Tigers now decide to go, they'll be much better without Avila at the helm.