Al Avila

Al Avila is the executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Tigers. He is the first Cuban-born general manager in Major League Baseball history. He originally joined the Tigers organization in 2002 and was promoted to the current position in 2015. Avila made his mark professional baseball with the expansion Florida Marlins in 1992. He was hired as the assistant director for Latin American operations. He went on to serve as director of Latin American operations and director of scouting. Avila was instrumental in the Marlins' signing of 1997 World Series MVP Livan Hernandez and All-Star Miguel Cabrera. He led the charge to draft future stars Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez. Avila originally worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1986. He was also the director of athletics and head baseball coach at his alma mater, St. Thomas University, for four years. Avila is a member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame.