If there was any doubt that the signing of outfielder Justin Upton to a six-year contract was driven by ownership, general manager Al Avila removed all doubt Wednesday afternoon.

The Detroit Tigers made plenty of moves early in the offseason to shore up their pitching staff. They made some minor moves to improve the outfield and signed a backup catcher.

But that wasn't enough for Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, who first approached Avila about the need for a big move just before Christmas.

"He started mentioning to me that he's worried about our offense," Avila said Wednesday after Upton was introduced at a press conference at Comerica Park. "That never stopped. He just kept on telling me, 'I like what you've done. You've done a great job. I'm very proud of how everything's developed.' But he was still worried about the offense.

"He just kept on referring to that all the way through the holidays and into the new year."

Avila said Ilitch reached out to him multiple times during the first week of the new year.

"He called me several times (and said) 'I'm worried about the offense,' " Avila recalled. "I said, 'Well, Mr. Ilitch, I'm trying to tweak it.' ... He said, 'Well, I appreciate you trying to tweak it, but I want more than a tweak.' So, later on in that week, he basically said, 'I think we need to go after one of these guys.' "

Avila reached out to Upton's agent then, along with manager Brad Ausmus, flew to Arizona meet with Upton. The 28-year-old outfielder signed his contract Wednesday.

Avila said Upton was at the top of the list for the Tigers all offseason when it came to potential high-priced targets for the offense. He simply didn't know whether Ilitch would pull the trigger and blow past the luxury tax threshold in the process.

"If we were going to do anything at all," Avila said, "he was the first guy, the No. 1 guy on our list, the guy that we wanted all along."

Ilitch did pull the trigger. Upton will be the starter in left field and will likely hit second for the Tigers this season.

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