The Athletics’ search for a new bench coach appears to be over, as MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) reports that Brad Ausmus is expected to land the job. It will be Ausmus’ first on-field job since he was fired as manager of the Angels following the 2019 season.
The 52-year-old Ausmus has been linked to several other managerial positions since leaving Anaheim, interviewing with the Padres, Astros, and (most recently) the Mets about their openings in the dugout. This also marks the first actual coaching job of Ausmus’ career, as he worked as a special assistant with the Padres in between the end of his playing career and his hiring as the Tigers’ manager in November 2013. Ausmus then worked another special assistant job for a season in the Angels’ front office before taking over their managerial position.
Now paired alongside newly-hired Oakland skipper Mark Kotsay, Ausmus will provide a veteran voice as Kotsay embarks on his first gig as a big-league manager. Ausmus has 808 games (386-422) and five seasons under his belt managing Detroit and Los Angeles, highlighted by an AL Central crown with the Tigers in 2014.
When the A’s let Bob Melvin take the Padres’ manager job, it also led to the departure of former bench coach Ryan Christenson, who followed Melvin to San Diego. Kotsay and now Ausmus will fill those two vacancies, though it remains to be seen if Oakland might yet make any other changes to the coaching staff heading into 2022.
Interesting. Probably a pretty good spot for him to get back in the managerial mix.
He was handed a declining Detroit team and an Angels team that simply didn’t have the arms to compete. We have no idea what he’d do with an actual contender.
Let him get a couple of seasons in the A’s dugout, see how the players and front office like him, and if it works out he’ll get another crack at a managerial job.
Hopefully he is making something close to first-time manager Kotsay. With the teams Ausmus has managed, i agree with you – he never got to manage anything close to a contender
He mishandles a capable Tiger team and cost them ….
Ausmus was one of the reasons for Detroit’s decline. I still remember the playoff series against Baltimore. He summoned for Joba Chamberlain from the bullpen and the Crowd in Baltimore gave him a standing ovation for calling in that batting practice machine! They were so excited to have their team hit off him! An experienced manager would have known better.
I think that it didn’t help that he kept multiple coaches on from Leyland’s staff. Mumbleball is what really brought down those Tigers teams.
Problem you have there has the last name Dombrowski. He accidentally runs the xxck in to bullpen arms, like ever.
2014 Tigers were 27th in the league in ERA, and get this, WAR. Their bullpen gave them 0.4 WAR and 4.29 ERA. That is what is known as a dumpster fire.
Did somebody say dumpsters? That is Dombrowski’s MO with the bullpen. He does not spend money on relievers and he trades so often he can’t make very many. That 2014 bullpen was a typical Dombrowski bullpen. Check the Phillies out. I don’t know enough day to day Red Sox lore, but Craig Kimbrel did not strike me as a Dombrowski signing, but whatever, it worked out, not trying to take that away.
Just saying, blame Ausmus if you want, he was working with stone knives and bear skins. The starters on that team were A listers no doubt. Playoff games are different, and they don’t all fire off three hit shut outs in October.
Dombrowski is a good GM, but he has no respect for relief pitchers, or their function. This has almost become a joke for me to point out at this juncture.
Couldn’t agree with you more he took a playoff team and they got worse each year he was there. Terrible manager. Feel for the A’s fans. Who ever says this is a good hire must be Mariners Astros etc fans
The Yankees had a WS-caliber team in ‘17 and they’ve progressively declined under Boone – he just received a 3-year extension as manager. This isn’t that bad.
As Tiger manager, Ausmus was too laid back and the players never played for him. He lacked fire in the belly. He inherited a team that was fully put together, in fact that “should have” won the World Series in 2012 or 2013. With a Cy Young staff (seven eventual Cy Youngs between them), the team got swept in the first round of the playoffs in 2014 and never came close again.
Hopefully he has learned a thing or two since then, and can help the A’s under Mark Kotsay. Bench coach is a good position for Ausmus.
Yes he did ruin the Tiger chances back when.
He certainly did exactly that.
Smart guy but still not yet a manager. Who knows why. He seems to have the resume and tools but can’t lead the men.
I remember one game where Ausmus came out to pull Price and Price just glared at him. He didn’t give the ball to Ausmus. I think he gave it to the catcher.
The Tigers were an aging team then, but those older guys carried the team. VMart was 2nd in MVP… Hunter was playing solid… Scherzer, Price, Verlander, Porcello and Sanchez were the starting 5. The bullpen was overused and misused. Coke, Chamberlain and AlBBQ were used more that year than any other year. Nathan was the closer and was decent, but he was 39 years old.
LOL
Few people realize the challenges he faced as an Angels coach. Primary one being Tyler Skaggs dying mid season and crushing that team. Plus add an Angels staff member running an opioid operation and a clubhouse manager providing magic stick-em to opposing pitchers; well that’s a tough gig.
Good luck Brad – except when you play the Halos.
@nukeg
The Angels weren’t going far even with Skaggs. They pitching depth wasn’t there to compete
Ausmus was handed a loaded Tigers team in 2014. Blown opportunity on his part. He is milk toast.
Or possibly milquetoast.
This must be very exciting news for a’s fans everywhere … both of them!
Rimshot!
The 2014 Tigers were not in decline but I agree with you that the team was mishandled. Players like Eugenio Suarez, Hernan Perez, James McCann and pitchers Robbie Ray and Cory Knebel didn’t get enough playing time while players like Andrew Romine, Don Kelly, Bryan Holayday and pitcher Joe Nathan were somehow Ausmus favorites.
Ausmus is a good choice as bench coach, though he never appealed to me as a manager. The game seemed to control Ausmus, instead of the required opposite.
After seeing what he did to the Angels, I imagine someone will have to tell him what a bench looks like and that he really doesn’t coach it.
Hahaha
Good for him.
Good hire by the A’s. Gives a good veteran voice to work with a new manager in Kotsay.
Solid hire, formidable coaching staff so far after bomel’s departure
“Ausmus will provide a veteran voice as Kotsay embarks on his first gig as a big-league manager.”
Perfect combo <3
At least now during press conferences instead of saying “ask the next manager” Brad can simply say “ask the manager”
Seems like a smart move on both sides. Kotsay is highly thought of, but he also has no experience as a manager, so having a bench coach who is both a former manager and catcher will help cover the knowledge gap. For Ausmus, he gets to keep himself front and center in the game, while building another opportunity to manage down the road.
Does make me wonder if the Mets will go the opposite direction with their bench coach. Showalter is as buttoned up and experienced as anyone is the game, so that might open the door for a first-time bench coach. They insist it’s going to be a “headline stealer,” so it better be somebody big to Mets fans. Hasn’t David Wright said he’s not interested in coaching, at least for now? Maybe Granderson? I don’t view that as a headline stealer, but it would be intriguing. Strong character guy and respected. Something the Mets are seeking. He played for the Mets, but he also has the Yankee and Eppler connection the Mets seem to be focusing on.
Brad Ausmus is Bob Geren 2.0. This hire may be problematic.
Indeed I smell tension.
It will interesting to hear what cat say to house mouse.
I’d love to know how much a baseball manager actually impacts the game. It’s more clear in football and basketball, but it seems as if baseball managers/coaches do the least amount to improve the product in the field. Not a lot of plays to call at the mlb
Level it seems.
You’re joking, right?
There are a lot of people who think baseball managers have little impact on the outcome of games, and that their most important role is managing personalities. Fans seem to feel that a manager’s bullpen decisions have the most impact on game outcome, or at least that’s what fans seem to complain the most about. If you read fan message boards, I don’t think there is a single fan base that thinks their team’s manager knows how to manage a bullpen.
I played college baseball and have now coached youth baseball, basketball, and soccer for 8 years. For youth, it’s not even close. The small nuances of Baseball are terribly difficult for young athletes to grasp. For MLB, there are so many things going on that you don’t see on camera. I can only imagine managing defensive shifts and pitch strategies for every hitter. Every hitter. Football and basketball are X and Os; baseball is data driven and much more under the radar micromanaging. They are all a challenge and none of them are easy.
As a Padres fan where we just hired Bobby Melvin for head Skipper I can say that Oakland made a good decision here. The A’s are a smart ball club when it comes to their coaching hires. Ausmus is a good # 2 man in the line of command.
For those of you who are saying he took over a “declining” Tiger team, you are straight up wrong. A lineup that consisted of JD Martinez, a prime Miggy, V. Martinez, Austin Jackson, Nick Castellanos, Ian Kinsler etc (not to mention Eugenio Suarez coming off the bench)was PLENTY deep enough to get you a lot of runs! Along with a rotation that consisted of Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, Anibal Sanchez and a young Robbie Ray? Seems to me he had quite a few pieces to make something happen? 4 CY YOUNG WINNERS IN A SINGLE ROTATION?
And it wasn’t just what he didn’t do with his 25 man roster. He pulled pitchers early some days only to leave them in too long on other days and get them crushed. Mismanagement of his BP was common practice as well. Ausmus was a terrible skipper, and I hope maybe he can learn a thing or two from Kotsay as he was a pretty intelligent player and I think he’ll be a good skipper.
I’m surprised to see some bashing Ausmus for the 14′ Tigers elimination. JV and MS pitched horribly against Baltimore (surprisingly, Price had the best start). Although I know he kept going to Joba, who got crushed. But starting pitching cost the Tigers against Baltimore. Not to mention too that the hitting was meh, with the exception of both Martinez’s and Cabrera.
You never know. Torre wasn’t much until the Yankees.
This sounds like a good fit. Wouldn’t want him managing my team.
They’ll win 90.
Kotsay is the manager, Ausmus is the bench coach. Half this thread is acting like its the other way around – why?
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