Tigers GM: 'The goal is to shed payroll'

The winter objective for Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila is simple. How he accomplishes it, however, remains the big question.

"The goal is to shed payroll and get better. Now, how do you do that? It may not all be accomplished in one shot," Avila told Jon Paul Morosi from MLB.com. "It's a process. I'm going to keep on saying that. It's not a process you do in three months. It's one you do by changing the philosophy and way you go about it moving forward - as opposed to every year going out and signing big-time free agents and trading away your prospects.

"Are there going to be good, viable trades out there? We will find out. If there are not, we will wait ... I think there's going to be interest in several of our players. I do. It's just a matter of where we go with those talks."

The Tigers are coming off back-to-back seasons without playoff appearances despite payrolls that ranked in the top five in the majors. A number of veterans - including Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Justin Upton, and Jordan Zimmermann - are locked in long term, and Avila will likely look to move at least one of them in order to help get under the luxury tax.

On Tuesday, it was reported the Tigers have already received calls on Verlander and Cabrera, while it's expected J.D. Martinez and Ian Kinsler will be the most coveted members on the roster.

While there's potential the Tigers could be major players this winter, Avila cautioned it's unlikely there will be a firesale coming from Michigan in the months ahead.

"At the very beginning, I said this may be a process that takes three winters, not just one winter," Avila said. "Now people are like, 'Oh, they are going to trade everyone.' No. I don't know who we are going to trade yet. We want to trade the right guys and certain things might take until next winter."