This is all that matters. I'm not concerned with whether that person is currently inside the organization or not. I don't think there should be an attachment to any particular player that makes them unavailable in trade if it makes the organization better. I don't think there's a quick turnaround likely that we would see a .500 team in a season or two, but then we weren't going to see that if Avila stuck around anyway.
Ideally I'd like a carbon copy of the St. Louis track record of the past 20 some years. Its been talked about before. But if you have not looked at their year by year success, it is certainly worth a glance.
They've not always made the playoffs, but they've been at least competitive year in and year out. Aside from the record, I think the divisions that the Tigers and Cardinals play in are pretty similar enough that using the Cardinals as the barometer makes sense.
As far as the timing is concerned, I think we'd all like to see the new person hired in time to get things moving before the offseason. I have no idea how quickly things can get turned around as far as a complete overhaul is concerned. That will probably take some time. But if they can at least get set a bit for free agency and go from there, that'd at least give the fans a bit of a small victory. And there are plenty of position holes to fill, probably 3B and OF at the top of the list.
If I were a long tenured member of the front office (including scouting/development departments), I'd have an empty box ready for my personal belongings.