Al Avila, an alumnus of St. Thomas University’s sports administration program and former head baseball coach and director of athletics for the Bobcats, was named the general manager of the Detroit Tigers last month, making him the first Cuban-born to hold that position in Major League Baseball history.
“I’m very excited for this opportunity, and honored and grateful to Tigers’ team owner Mike Ilitch for having the faith and trust in me to run the ball club in our continuing pursuit of a World Series championship,” Avila said in the statement.
“After 24 years in professional baseball and 14 with the Detroit Tigers, I believe I’m uniquely qualified to be successful in this role in leading this organization. We’re confident we can make a strong push to win this year, and that we have the foundation in place to win next year and for years to come.”
After earning his Master’s Degree in sports administration from St. Thomas, Avila served as director of athletics and head baseball coach for the Bobcats from 1988 until 1992. Under Avila’s leadership, the Bobcats won back-to-back Florida Sun Conference championships in 1991 and 1992, and they were ranked as high as No. 3 in the national NAIA Coaches Poll. In 1991, Avila was named the Florida Sun Conference Coach of the Year. Avila moved on from St. Thomas to become the assistant director of Latin American Operations for the Florida Marlins in 1992, then he was elevated to director of Latin American Operations in 1994. In 1998, he was named director of scouting for the Marlins, handling the responsibilities for all of the Marlins scouting efforts on both the national and international levels. In 2001, he became vice president and assistant general manager for the Marlins and spent much of the year as interim general manager for the Marlins.
Following his nine seasons with the Marlins and a short stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Avila was named vice president and assistant general manager for the Detroit Tigers in 2002, a position he held until his historic appointment as general manager