The Tigers and Brad Ausmus will part ways after the end of the current season, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports on Twitter that the club won’t extend his contract. Ausmus, 48, has been at the helm of the Detroit dugout for the last four seasons.
Detroit had exercised a club option to retain Ausmus for the current campaign. But it did not further address his contract situation last winter, leaving the skipper facing an uncertain future. Now, his tenure will end as the ballclub itself faces its own uncertainty as it carries out a rebuilding effort.
GM Al Avila says he’s looking for a “new approach and a fresh start” in that leadership role (via ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, on Twitter). It’s not yet known, though, just what candidates the club will consider. The Tigers will have a head start on the rest of the managerial market, though, as they are the first organization to announce a chance.
Ausmus, a long-time big league catcher, was hired when the organization was pushing hard to contend. The Tigers won ninety games in his first year at the helm, but were swept out of the postseason and haven’t made it back since. Then-GM Dave Dombrowski was cut loose in the midst of a disappointing 2015 season, giving way to Avila. Detroit managed 86 wins last year, but the outlook wasn’t all that optimistic heading into the current campaign and the club has staggered to a 62-91 record to this point.
Notable change has come at many levels of the Tigers organization of late. That includes player turnover, of course, with J.D. Martinez and longtime star Justin Verlander departing via trade over the summer. Long-time owner Mike Ilitch passed away in February, leaving the team to his son, Chris. Of course, there’s also continuity in that transition; the younger Ilitch says his family plans to continue to own the ballclub for a long time to come (via MLB.com’s Jason Beck, on Twitter).
saw this one coming a mile away
Did you really?
Stevie Wonder saw it coming.
Thank God
You don’t have to log into MLBTR to thank God.
No, but it’s nice that you can.
Bc the tigers as a team are old? It’s not asmus it’s those bad contracts with old or aging players
I wish asmus was managing my team
Who is your team?
And you don’t have to complain about what he said, but you did.
Can’t blame Ausmus for the ridiculous contracts the FO gave some of these players. He’s a good baseball man. He’s just a scapegoat for the foolish spending by Ilitch and co.
This is not entirely true. It’s not like the FO put together a terrible team, it’s just terrible now that the window has closed. We all knew these contracts would look awful once that happened, but the FO gambled on the team of superstars getting it done in the meantime, which they never did. This team had one of the great runs in baseball from 2006-2016, but neither Leyland, who got them to the brink twice, nor Ausmus could get it done. Brad’s teams often showed a lack of hustle, inconsistency and at times awful defense, and were an abomination on the base paths. Brad can’t hit or pitch for them, but his job is to bring them together and push them to the next level. Instead, they always seemed to have the potential to win big, but lack the urgency to do it consistently. That’s on the manager – and even if it’s not, changing the manager is the primary way to shake things up. Unfortunately, the FO kept believing they’d finally put it all together and get it done, and waited until it was too late to make that change and see what would happen.
Brad will get another chance somewhere else, and hopefully he will have learned from his time here.
The dude had a great roster outside of this year. Brad Ausmus never brought out the best of them. And his in-game decision-making skills were lacking. Time to move on.
It is theorized that even the guys considered to be the best and worst managers only sway the win loss totals +2 / -2 with the occasional Matt Williams whom is believed to have cost the nationals a heck of a lot more then 2 wins and the outliner that can add a few more then 2 wins.
The Fielder contract, the Cabrera extension, Zimmerman, Sanchez, trading for Gose, inability to build a bullpen, not recognizing the signs that this team needed to start its rebuild. Basically these are the sins of the FO & ownership, firing Ausmus is the same as rearranging deck chairs on the deck of the titanic, it was done to appease a rightfully frustrated fan base but it won’t move the needle, unless of course he’s more Matt Williams then I know, and I’m no expert on Ausmus.
The effect of managers is indeed over-rated; you expect that someone like Ausmus who played MLB for 18 years would have enough knowledge to manage effectively. A pitching coach is far more important. Concerning rebuilding, I don’t think it’s even necessary. The Cards have rarely gone through a rebuild, and they’re competitive virtually every season because they concentrate on the basics: player development, pitching, defense and manufacturing runs when you’re up against quality arms.
i suspect that the indians wouldn’t have had that winning streak without francona.
Francona got fired from Boston. Timing is everything.
Normally I would say that your suspicions are meaningless without data but Francona is one of the outliners I mentioned above.
The winning streak was a freak of baseball nature, completed by a very talented team who happen to have a great manager.
The theory is 10 games, not 2.
I’m not familiar with any of these theories but if they consider only in-game management then they are all wet.
I’m not shocked at all. I actually was surprised when they brought him back for 2017. I just wonder who the Tigers will hire as their new manager.
Jim Leyland?
doubt they’d go down that road again. or that leyland would
Leyland loves his current job of being an assistant to the GM. He won’t be going back to the field. It’ll probably be someone who doesn’t mind going through a rebuild. If they stay in the organization, my guess would be Lance Parrish or Mike Rabelo who both have worked with some of the youngsters that are at the major league level or will be promoted in 2018 and 2019. If they go outside the Tiger system, I have no clue..
Bo Porter!
Whoever it is will be willing to work for minimum wage.
Chris I needs to sell.
Are there any good internal options to replace him?
Lloyd McClendon is on the coaching staff, but if they want to shake things up I think they will hire someone from outside the organization. Not an easy place to go though, with a lot of experienced but declining veterans who have seen it all yet still have little chance at a ring. That’s tough for a manager, certainly if the front office publicly commits to a rebuild. .
Bagel asked for good internal options. McClendon is not that.
Hm… true. Although he might be good enough in a rebuild situation if he can keep guys like Cabrera and Martinez on his side.
Beginning with 2018, I don’t see a “lot of declining veterans” other than Miggy and the unlikely prospect of Victor returning. It’s already a comparatively young team.
Miggy will bounce back. He’s playing hurt…again.
Define bounce back?
Tigers have V. Martinez(38), Cabrera(34), Kinsler(35), Sanchez(33), Zimmerman(31) Romine(31), and Presley(31) in their 30’s who could be on the 2018 roster. Cabrera and Zimmerman are the only locks.
Kinsler could be traded even though his play has been solid and a possible GG winner again. V. Martinez, after his second heart issue, could get a medical retirement. Romine and Presley are bench fill-ins and Sanchez will get his buy-out or 1 year deal to be the 5th starter.
The talk about the Tigers being old is in itself an old, uninformed, inaccurate talking point about the team.
34 year olds with herniated discs in their back do not “bounce back” often.
Maybe that old nugget about catchers making great managers will go away now.
Omar Vizquel. However, I’d hate to see him as the scapegoat for a rebuild when I feel he has potential as a ML manager.
Probably should have happened sooner, like after last year, but the veterans on the team really liked him so he got an extra year of managing. Now it’s time to blow up that team and start a rebuild.
I don’t think Ausmus is that bad (not that he’s great), but the Tigers definitely need new blood. Losing all the time and having the same face in charge offers little motivation.
The Cincinnati Reds disagree with your comment.
should offer the Pirates $5000 for Clint Hurdle.
For real Joey Cora would be a great manager, I wanted him to take over for Hurdle. Tigers should look at him.
Good
He’ll be out of work for like five minutes.
He will ever get a head coaching MLB job again. He was handed a World Series contender and couldn’t do a thing. No one will give him anything.
Who do you folks think is the greatest rebuilding manager of all time? I start the bidding at Art Howe.
I would go with Lou .Boudreau. He is the unheralded architect of the 1950’s Cleveland Indians team which others were given credited for.
I’d rather have him than Scott Servais.
Most anyone could be manager for the next couple of years; it wouldn’t surprise me if they pulled Gibby out of the booth. He’d be like a college coach to a bunch of young players.
That would be a blessing… Gibby is the worst in the booth.
Kirk Gibson’s health is not good enough to manage anymore.
The Guy should ‘t have a Mgr Job from the Beginning, being able to call Pitches is not the same has knowing how to most out of players !
This guy can grammar good sometimes too.
Maybe the Tiger’s need to reach out to Former Tiger’s Tom Brookens and give him his shot or Gene Lamont. Lance Parrish is another pick. Otherwise Ron Washington might be what the Tiger’s need. Somebody that knows pitcher’s and how to handle them. I still think the Verlander Trade was a bad move, but it’s time to move on to bright new future with some Veteran player to lead them. Miggy must assume that role!!!
Ron Washington is just what the Tigers need as they rebuild… he is great at the fundamental side of the game
Ron Washington is just what the Tigers need as they rebuild… great fundamentally and an excellent teacher
If Snitker is fired in Atlanta then I hope Washington is named manager for the Braves. He’s been successful in the past and has definitely worked hard with the young infielders on the team.
Like Yankees George Steinbrenner Mike Ilitch had a goal with the Tigers: win regardless. These two gentlemen are pioneers of what ownership is about. That crap of saving on the luxury tax or rebuilding costs years in the making. Look at the A’s in 2014, they had it all, Cespedes, Moss, Donaldson el all. Now, after 4 years sure them Youngsters look talented but at what costs? Fan base? C’mon people…
C’mon what? All the A’s young players were drafted before 2014. Those 2 groups of players have no relation
oh please. are you too young to remember that ilitch watched as the tigers went through THIRTEEN consecutive losing seasons in his first fourteen years of ownership?
I have a feeling some people of the commenters really are teenagers, and hence wouldn’t have remembered such a period of time.
When I talk to some of my fellow Blue Jays fans on forums, I have a feeling a lot of them don’t really have a feeling of what 1994 – 2014 felt like.
Randy Smith gets the blame for the poor Tiger teams. However, it is obvious that Mike Illich interfered. The type of team they tried to build changed every year.
This is a great opportunity for a first time manager. If the team stinks, it’s because of the talent. It was supposed to stink. If the team plays better than expected, it must be because of the manager and coaches. If that manager outperforms expectations, why would the team fire him? There is no guarantee that this will be a place holder hire.
Ron Gardinhire?
Only thing on his resume was he took a bad Minnesota team and made them an ok team.
That’s it.
Ron Gardenhire was rumored to replace Ausmus after Dombroski left but Avilia retained him. Gardenhire would be a perfect fit.
Avila couldn’t construct a team around Verlander, Fulmer, Cabrera, J Upton and JD Martinez. This is going to be ugly. The manager is meaningless at this point.
I hope they hire a minority. The team is going to be terrible no matter what. Instead of hiring a white guy with a middling resume, why not give a black or Latino a chance?
Ausmus was a white guy with no experience and he was handed the job. The minors are filled with minorities who have earned a major league job.
Can you explain what anyone’s identity, racial or otherwise, has to do with being a capable manager?
I will answer it for you, nothing.
Then why are there 29 white managers?
Why do you refer them as “white managers”? Why not just managers?
There are plenty of Identity Politics forums out there, but this is not one of them.
Come home to San Diego Brad.
Bench coach/Bullpen Coach/mentor for Austin Hedges.
Ausmus is perfect for San Diego! Brad wants life style as much as he wants to coach. Never thought he fit in Detroit.
Let’s face it. No matter who manages the Tigers the next few year, they are destined to be consistent cellar dwellers. Whoever is hired will be gone after 2-3 years of fan discontent. At this juncture, I’m more concerned with who will be managing and coaching the Tigers’ minor league teams and whether or not they can develop all the young talent the team has recently acquired.
What a train wreck over there in Detroit. Brad is a good baseball man. Would be cool if the White Sox offer Ausmus a spot as a bench coach.
If not Lance Parrish, how about Tim Flannery?
Lance Parrish should definitely be at the top of their list of candidates. He’s part of the historical winning culture of the Tigers and has more history with them than probably anyone else in that organization if you count his time as a player in the minors & majors as well as his time coaching / managing with them in the minors & majors.
He caught for 19 seasons, was an All Star, Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger winner and a huge part / “Big Wheel” of our last World Series winning team in ’84.
Being that he’s managed the AA affiliate of the Tigers for the last few years, I can think of no one else who would have a better rapport with the younger players coming through the Tigers minor league system then the guy who likely managed them and helped get them ready for their next step in the process.