OT : Tigers To Exercise Option On Ausmus

Submitted by BLHoke on
As the title alludes to, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports that the Detroit Tigers will exercise their 4th year option on Manager Brad Ausmus. I can't say I'm not disappointed. Aside from the injuries, I believe he's the biggest reason that the Tigers missed out on the Wild Card this season. The guy always seems to zig when he should zag.
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ThadMattasagoblin

October 5th, 2016 at 8:01 AM ^

Terry Francona won at Boston and now is winning in Cleveland. It boggles my mind why they would go get a guy whose biggest experience is managing baseball in Israel when we're trying to win a world series.

Joined: 08/24/2011

MGoPoints: 64192

reddogrjw

October 5th, 2016 at 9:12 AM ^

we do not have an aging team

we have a "few" aging players

SP - other than JV, Zim is 30 and the rest early/mid 20's

Bullpen - K-Rod is 34

the rest of the bullpen?

Justin Wilson 29

Rondon 25

Greene 27

Kyle Ryan 25

Hardy 29

Alex Wilson 29

Line-up

C - McCann 26

1B - Miggy - will move to DH when not able to play 1B

2B - Kinsler - 34 - only real worry in my opinion

SS - Iggy - 26

3B - Nick 24

LF - Upton - 29

CF - Maybin - 29

RF - JD - 29

DH - V-Mart - old

basically JV, K-Rod, Miggy, Kinsler and V-Mart the only major players past 30 - they key is backfilling DH/1B when V-Mart's deal ends in 2018 - similar for Kinsler - Jacoby Jones could be that fill in

this team isn't old - not sure why people still jump to that conclusion

Joined: 07/06/2016

MGoPoints: 9845

RationalBuckeye

October 5th, 2016 at 9:02 AM ^

I don't get why everyone is so down on ausmus. Would a better manager have made this a playoff team? Because to sustain injuries and then not make virtually any deadline moves and still push for a wildcard spot until the last day of the season is a pretty impressive feat.

Joined: 04/06/2012

MGoPoints: 3237

MGoBender

October 5th, 2016 at 11:03 AM ^

Remember when Ausmus decided to leave in JV in Chicago in what would have otherwise been a no-brainer to pull him and he got a strikeout with RISP and 2-outs?

Probably not.  Most people don't remember or pay attention to all the right moves MLB managers make.

Look at last night... Showalter (who everyone loves, inexplicably) lost a must-win game in extra innings and never used his best RP, who was the best closer in all of baseball this year.  

Joined: 03/26/2010

MGoPoints: 15128

The Dirty Nil

October 5th, 2016 at 9:06 AM ^

I wish Detroit would have pursued Francona when they had a chance a few years ago, and I won't forget that anytime soon. Keeping Ausmus at the helm is wasting valuable years on some of the players' contracts, imo. That being said, I haven't followed baseball much this season so I don't even know who some viable candidates might be if they were to let him go.

Joined: 05/13/2012

MGoPoints: 6222

AlwaysBlue

October 5th, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^

what 4, 5, 6 weeks after the All Star break with 1 guy of the 5 pegged as the starting rotation coming out Lakeland. The fact he had them competing for a playoff spot until the final series of the season is pretty damn impressive. Fix the bullpen, something the Tigers haven't managed to do for years, and they are in the playoffs.

Joined: 11/23/2008

MGoPoints: 7854

MGoCustom

October 5th, 2016 at 9:42 AM ^

The manager's main job is simple.. Put your team in the best position to win, plain and simple.

While there is no doubt in my mind this team underachieved, and a lot of that is on the players, I do not feel Ausmus continuously puts his team in the best position to win day in and out.

 

Shit happens, pitchers blow leads, teams get 1-hit...

 

What I do not understand, is this:

 

- Keeping the best hitter (2nd half) batting behind JD.. even when JD was ICE COLD.

 

- Continually using Greene in pressure situations when his ERA was over 5 second half!!!

 

- Not having a shorter leash on Sanchez early in the year.. Sanchez went through a stretch where he couldn't get past the 6th inning.. but nobody was ever ready in case there was trouble... and boy was there trouble.

 

- Why, in the end of a playoff race, was Zimmerman called on to start? He had been absolutely TERRIBLE, and couldn't even get through outings in Toledo looking halfway decent.  

 

- Not demoting Aviles sooner.. on and on..

 

This was a 90 / 95 win team.. probably not a WS winner.. Probably not even got out of the ALCS.. but it was a squandered season.

Joined: 01/12/2015

MGoPoints: 249

MGoCustom

October 5th, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^

I don't care what the "experts" said... This team was definitely set up to win 90+ games.  You don't think there were 4 "winnable" games in there somewhere? I can name 3 blown games down the stretch that were gimmie wins that they gave away. I was at 2 of them.

Joined: 01/12/2015

MGoPoints: 249

ibleedmaiznblue

October 5th, 2016 at 9:55 AM ^

I'm sure Ausmus is a nice guy and all but you don't give the keys to the Cadillac to a new driver.  In my opinion he shouldn't have been hired in the first place.  I am very disappointed in hearing he will be back.  When the Wings had those talanted teams we had the best coach in Scotty.  When the Pistons won the title in 2004 we move Rick Carlisle out and got Larry Brown to bring us to the next level.  When we had Barry Sanders we had......oh.....nevermind. 

Joined: 08/08/2012

MGoPoints: 134

JamieH

October 5th, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^

Ausmus is nearly as bad as many make him out to be, but I don't know that he's great either.  I do admit that the fact that this team did keep battling and stayed in the hunt till the end is a plus, but I also agree that some of his bullpen decisions are suspect.  Or course, some of that is that the Tigers always have a crap bullpen.  This year it was Lowe that was supposed to be good that was absoultey positively garbage (untill late in the season).   And they probably make the playoffs if K-Rod doesn't blow that 3-run lead with 2-outs a week ago. 


After watching the wild card play-in game, every other team can just be glad they don't have to watch Buck Schowalter self-torpedo their team like that.  I thought Leyland made some kooky in-game decisions, but i don't think he ever did anything that face-palmingly frustrating.  Sure, let the guy with the 5+ ERA end your season while your Cy-Young candidate reliver with the 0.50 ERA eats a sandwich.  THAT makes sense.  Good lord, why are these guys paid big money? 

Joined: 09/05/2009

MGoPoints: 28331

Rodriguesqe

October 5th, 2016 at 11:29 AM ^

Team was talented but play was always sloppy. Disappointed, but not surprised. I do think he's improved as a manager but still bad.

 

Joined: 12/29/2013

MGoPoints: 4222

bronxblue

October 5th, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^

I guess if you don't think you can find someone better you keep him, but Ausmus hasn't been particularly good for a couple years now, and the window for this team being competitive isn't forever.  

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171872

InterM

October 5th, 2016 at 2:59 PM ^

for negging the OP as the bearer of bad news.

As for those standing up for Ausmus, look no further than Mark Lowe.  How many games were lost in May while Ausmus ran him out there night after night, hoping for some reason that the result would be different?  Then the Tigers sat him out for most of June, only to bring him back for four games in an 8-day span against Kansas City and Cleveland -- not like the Tigers needed to beat those teams, right?  My personal favorite was June 18 vs. KC -- a third of an inning, six hits, and five earned runs on 17 pitches -- can't beat that for efficiency.  As another Detroit coach once said:  What does a guy have to do to get fired around here?

Joined: 01/16/2009

MGoPoints: 2257

CoverZero

October 5th, 2016 at 4:32 PM ^

Ausmus is pure vanilla milquetoast.  No Fire.  In 2014, he was given the keys to the Ferrari and crashed it.  Three, soon to be 4 Cy Youngs on a single staff with a good 5th starter (at that time) in Sanchez.   A star filled powerful lineup....yeah they had some closer issues but that team was more than SOLID.

This is a mistake by the Tigers.  An unfortunate one for the fans who have invested so much in this team.   If it was not for DD's rookie pitchers, they would have finished in 4th place this season.  Thanks Brad.

The Tigers should have jumped on Tito when he was avaiable a couple of years ago as Leyland was retiring.

 

Joined: 08/30/2014

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