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Avila On Bringing Back Soria: 'We Had Interest In Him From Day One'

By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby

Although Detroit Tigers general manager and vice president of baseball operations Al Avila denied interest in big-name outfielders on Monday, the team is still very much in the market for relief pitching.

Detroit had previously been in pursuit of Joakim Soria, who was with the club last season until a trade-deadline move sent him to Pittsburgh. Recent reports, though, have Soria signing with the Royals, although nothing has been confirmed by either team.

"Yes, we had some interest in Soria," Avila said. "We had interest in him from day one. He was one of the guys we targeted."

Avila did not want to discuss specifics, though, of what kind of offer was made to Soria, or why that offer wasn't beefed up to bring the right-handed reliever back to Detroit.

"I think for us, we look at how much do we like the player, the years and the dollars, so you have to put everything in full circle," Avila hinted. "You have to consider all that."

So with Soria apparently off the market, the Tigers go back to their color-coded charts of relievers, searching for someone to bolster their bullpen – which was inconsistent, at best, last year. The club already traded for a closer, in Francisco Rodriguez. And several reports have indicated that Mark Lowe has signed as well, for a two-year contract worth $13 million.

But nothing has been confirmed by the Tigers, with Avila declining comment on the situation "at this point."

Winter meetings conclude on Thursday, and manager Brad Ausmus said he expects the team to sign one or two more pitchers. Whether the "one" could be Lowe or not has yet to be confirmed.

There has been plenty of talk about the Tigers pursuing a left-handed reliever to complement the rest of their bullpen. But quality, rather than a preference of which hand a guy uses, is of the most importance to Avila.

"We'd probably rather sign a good right-handed reliever that we like a lot instead of a left-handed reliever just because he's left-handed, and that's really been our philosophy all along," Avila said. "And you have right-handed relievers that can get lefties and righties out. And you have some left-handed relievers, quite frankly, that are not good lefty-on-lefty guys. … So if you see us leaving the winter meetings without a left-handed reliever this week, don't be surprised because that'll still be a work in progress."

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