AROUND THE HORN
Tigers:
The Tigers’ disappointing season cost Al Avila his job. Avila was fired as team’s general manager on Wednesday, ending a sevenyear tenure without a playoff appearance. “I wish the results would have been better this season,” Avila said in a statement released by the team. “But know there is a lot to look forward to in the coming years.” Owner Chris Ilitch announced the move with his team mired in another disappointing season. The Tigers entered Wednesday at 43-68, last in the AL Central. “Our progress certainly stalled this season,” Ilitch said a couple hours before the Tigers hosted the Guardians. Ilitch invested millions in the offseason in an attempt to return his team to contention. “All of us — the players, front office and many of you (reporters) — had high expectations and excitement for the season,” he said. “Unfortunately, we did not see progress this season at the major league level. Big reason why I decided it’s time to make a change.” The Cuban-born Avila was the only current Latino GM or equivalent in MLB, which has few minorities in leading front-office positions. White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams is the only Black leader of baseball operations for any club, Marlins GM Kim Ng is the only woman and AsianAmerican in that role, and Giants president Farhan Zaidi, who’s of Pakistani descent, is the only Muslim. Tigers assistant GM Sam Menzin takes over the day-to-day leadership role. Avila was promoted to GM on Aug. 4, 2015, after serving as Dave Dombrowski’s assistant. Avila’s chance to lead the team coincided with a rebuilding process that prevented him from making short-term moves to win. The results in the years since haven’t been what the team hoped for. Avila finally got the freedom to spend money this past offseason, but his two biggest investments haven’t panned out, either. Javier Báez, signed to a $140 million contract to address a desperate need at shortstop, has struggled in the field and at the plate. Earlier in the offseason, Avila gave Eduardo Rodríguez a five-year, $77 million contract, but the left-hander went on the restricted list due to personal matters in June and hasn’t worked his way back yet. The Tigers seemed to be poised for a breakthrough after winning 77 games in 2021, its best record since 2016, which was its only winning season under Avila. The 64-year-old Avila has more than three decades of experience in baseball.
He was Dombrowski’s assistant with the Marlins, whom he helped sign Miguel Cabrera when he was 16. Avila worked with the Pirates as a special assistant in 2002 before rejoining Dombrowski in Detroit.
Mets: Francisco Lindor scored three runs, tying a franchise record by crossing the plate in 13 consecutive games, and the Mets breezed to their sixth straight win, 10-2 over the visiting Reds. Lindor finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a two-run single in the second that increased his RBI total to 82, matching Jose Reyes in 2006 for the most by a Mets shortstop. Lindor reached the mark in his 111th game, 42 fewer than Reyes played in 2006. Lindor walked and scored the Mets’ second run in the first. His single in the second made it 4-0. His run-scoring streak is the longest in the majors this season and matched David Wright (July 2008) for the longest in Mets history. Tradedeadline addition Daniel Vogelbach drove in three runs, fellow July acquisition Tyler Naquin homered and Pete Alonso had three hits for the NL East-leading Mets. Taijuan Walker (10-3) pitched six solid innings to reach double-digit wins for the first time since he went 11-8 for the Mariners in 2015. Walker allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. The Mets have the second-best record in the majors (73-39) and outscored the Reds 21-5 in the three-game sweep.