Per the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Tigers will not renew the contract of manager Brad Ausmus, which expires after this season.
“We didn’t win,” Tigers’ GM Al Avila said explaining his decision. “The organization, the club, got to a point where we needed change on the field. We needed to change the roster, and we started trading players, so the conclusion is… Let’s just take a whole brand new road and opening up to new things.”
The move did not surprise Ausmus one bit. In fact, he accepted it as inevitability. For the past week he dropped hints that the end was near.
“Quite frankly, I told him I fully understood,” said Ausmus. “And I told him, if he had walked in and offered me a contract, I probably wouldn’t have come back because I think this team, this organization, is starting over. They need a new voice.”
Ausmus took over as Detroit’s manager in 2014, replacing the retired Jim Leyland. Ausmus played for Detroit in 1996, then again in 1999-2000. He did not have any prior managing experience in the MLB, although he did manage in Israel.
“I would say the manager doesn’t have to have managerial experience at the major league level,” Avila said. “But he certainly has to have managerial experience, in my opinion, in the minor leagues or coaching experience at the major leagues, so that person that comes in is well prepared in that sense.”
Ausmus’ record as Detroit’s manager is 312-326. But he overall regressed in his four seasons, starting from an AL Central leading 90-72 in 2014 to a catastrophic 62-92 in 2017.
Certainly this drop off is not completely Ausmus’ fault. In fact, it’s probably not even mostly his fault. Detroit’s front office displayed a flash of reconstruction in 2015 by trading Yoenis Cespedes, David Price and Joakim Soria. Then-GM Dave Dombrowski was fired shortly after trading these three players.
Avila took over and addressed the holes left by Dombrowski through signing Justin Upton and Jordan Zimmermann over the 2015-16 offseason.
But Avila’s push didn’t last long. After a failed 2017 campaign, Avila went into total rebuilding mode by trading numerous Tigers’ veterans including Upton, Justin Verlander, JD Martinez, Justin Wilson and Alex Avila. This doomed any short term Tigers’ success and Ausmus’ career with it.
“I’ve known for a couple days that it was definitely happening and that I was going to have to speak to you sooner than later,” said Ausmus. “But in my mind, since the Aug. 31 trade deadline, I kind of felt like this was the direction it should go for the Tigers.”
When asked if he had any regrets, Ausmus kept it blunt. He never won a ring.
“I wish, if nothing else, that we could have won a World Series,” Ausmus said. “Quite frankly, I wish we could have done it before Mr. I (Illitch) passed away. But sports aren’t perfect.”
Ausmus had his chance, too. He won the Al Central in 2014. This team had the makings for a deep playoff run, especially with a starting pitching rotation of Justin Verlander Max Scherzer, David Price and the then-great Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello. But it ended with a 3-0 sweep by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of the playoffs.
The Tigers could not grasp that elusive World Series they’ve been chasing for a decade. Now, it’s time to start from square one. With this, Ausmus had no role in Detroit—and he knows that there’s no better route than this one.
“I wish Al the best,” Ausmus said. “I think he’s got the organization pointed in the right direction. He’s beefed up the analytics and scouting and he made some touch calls in trading guys like Ver (Justin Verlander) for prospects and rebuilding the minor league system and it’s going to be a little bit of a haul here for the next couple of years but they’re moving in the right direction and I wish the Tigers and Al nothing but the best.”