Keeping Brad Ausmus // thoughts on new GM Al Avila
The first major decision Al Avila made as general manager was "who is going to be our manager in 2016?" To keep Ausmus, or not to keep Ausums, that is the question. He decided to keep Brad Ausmus on for one more year (at least) and Detroit erupted.
Okay, I am probably one of the few who applauded this decision. I have said all year, as others griped and complained about Ausmus, that he deserved another chance. Something to keep in mind is, that the fans always think they know better or could do a better job. I don't think so. A lot of those who don't like Ausmus say that they could manage better than him. No. I guarantee you that it is harder than it looks. Being in the center of the game, you sometimes have to make quick decisions, and you can make mistakes. Which brings me to my second point: Ausmus is human. Not only that, but he is only in is SECOND year of managing. Please remember, he has never managed a Major League team before 2014. Now, in his first year as manager, we did just fine - Central Division Champs who went to the ALDS (and don't tell me Baltimore was his fault). This year, we tanked and ended up on the bottom. Two years. That's a pretty small sample size and you've now seen both ends of the spectrum. Tigers fans loved Jim Leyland (most of the time) and would have been super excited if Ron Gardenhire or Bud Black had been hired as our manager. But how do you think they got to be such good managers? Once, they were young guys in their second years of managing and I can promise you, they didn't have it all together from the get-go. They made mistakes. They learned from their mistakes.
I challenge anyone to try and excel at their job with broken, half-working equipment. It would be almost impossible to EXCEL at what you were doing. You'd do okay sometimes, but you would fail in the end. Ausmus had a broken team. We were never all healthy from Day 1, and many of our key leaders (on the field and locker room) were injured for long periods of time. Our bullpen, while there were some bright spots, was not very good overall and for the long run. It's impossible to excel with a team that cannot function at it's highest level. End of story. I truly believe Brad Ausmus did the best he could with what he had. He probably made some mistakes, but anyone would. He deserves another chance and I am thrilled Avila and the Tigers are giving him one.
Okay, I am probably one of the few who applauded this decision. I have said all year, as others griped and complained about Ausmus, that he deserved another chance. Something to keep in mind is, that the fans always think they know better or could do a better job. I don't think so. A lot of those who don't like Ausmus say that they could manage better than him. No. I guarantee you that it is harder than it looks. Being in the center of the game, you sometimes have to make quick decisions, and you can make mistakes. Which brings me to my second point: Ausmus is human. Not only that, but he is only in is SECOND year of managing. Please remember, he has never managed a Major League team before 2014. Now, in his first year as manager, we did just fine - Central Division Champs who went to the ALDS (and don't tell me Baltimore was his fault). This year, we tanked and ended up on the bottom. Two years. That's a pretty small sample size and you've now seen both ends of the spectrum. Tigers fans loved Jim Leyland (most of the time) and would have been super excited if Ron Gardenhire or Bud Black had been hired as our manager. But how do you think they got to be such good managers? Once, they were young guys in their second years of managing and I can promise you, they didn't have it all together from the get-go. They made mistakes. They learned from their mistakes.
I challenge anyone to try and excel at their job with broken, half-working equipment. It would be almost impossible to EXCEL at what you were doing. You'd do okay sometimes, but you would fail in the end. Ausmus had a broken team. We were never all healthy from Day 1, and many of our key leaders (on the field and locker room) were injured for long periods of time. Our bullpen, while there were some bright spots, was not very good overall and for the long run. It's impossible to excel with a team that cannot function at it's highest level. End of story. I truly believe Brad Ausmus did the best he could with what he had. He probably made some mistakes, but anyone would. He deserves another chance and I am thrilled Avila and the Tigers are giving him one.
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