Brad Ausmus won’t return as the manager of the Tigers in 2018:

Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila walked into Brad Ausmus’ office this week prepared for a difficult task.

But Ausmus ensured that while the conversation may have been emotional, the parting was amicable.

“I told him even if he had walked in and offered me a contract, I probably wasn’t going to come back,” Ausmus said Friday. “I think this team and this organization is starting over and needs a new voice. Sometimes you’ve got to be able to evaluate yourself.”

Aumsus said that evaluation led him to believe he wasn’t the right man to handle the rebuilding process that began last winter, escalated in July and then went full-throttle with the trades of Justin Upton and Justin Verlander on Aug. 31.

It also could be that Ausmus would like to try to manage a team that can win. I assume there will be other openings. Terry Collins may retire, although I’m not sure if that’s a better situation.

The Tigers decided to retain Brad Ausmus as their manager:

“I was taught a while back ago,” Avila said. “Jim Leyland was actually the one who told me this. He said, whenever you make a decision to change a manager, do it right then and there and don’t wait. So whenever you make a decision, period, take action. The decision was made. Took action. That’s the way I was taught and that’s the way I did it.”

The decision was made after two months of assessing the team, the decisions made by Ausmus, and counsel sought by those in the front office — to include David Chadd, John Westoff, Scott Bream, former manager Jim Leyland, and Al Kaline. The goals will remain the same next year, as are the expectations for Ausmus. To get to the postseason and win the World Series.

Good. Lots of things went wrong with the Tigers this season, and I don’t think Ausmus was the main problem.

Brad Ausmus may not be fired yet:

It appears that the assessment already has been completed by someone high up with the Tigers, based on multiple reports that Ausmus will be fired at the end of the season. But not everyone appears to have been looped in.

A Tigers front-office source in baseball operations told MLive.com on Friday morning that the news that Ausmus would be fired at the end of the season came as a surprise.

“It was complete news to me,” the source said.

Someone jumped the gun.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Brad Ausmus will not be managing the Tigers in 2016:

Owner Mike Ilitch intends to fire Ausmus after this season ends, according to a person with knowledge of the front office’s plans. The person asked not to be identified late Thursday because he was not authorized to discuss the situation publicly. The person said that former Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski “fought off ownership so that it didn’t happen much earlier.”

Detroit’s Channel 4 (WDIV-TV) also started reporting late Thursday that Ausmus would be out after the season, which ends Oct. 4 in Chicago against the White Sox.

Now that this is out in the open, I suspect Brad will step down. Maybe Washington and Detroit should just trade managers. Both Matt Williams and Ausmus had success their first year, but injuries hurt their teams in their second year. Both probably learned a lot in their stints, but are in the wrong place now. A trade would give each a fresh start.

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski explains why he liked Brad Ausmus:

But it all kept coming back to how Ausmus interacted with those within the game. As a favor, Dombrowski asked Tony La Russa to have dinner with Ausmus. Afterward, La Russa called Dombrowski to tell him: “I understand what you are talking about.”

What he was talking about is tough to describe, yet knew it when he saw it. How else do you explain him giving a 44-year-old former catcher with no experience the keys to one of the most talented rosters in baseball?

For the past couple of weeks, Dombrowski listened to folks like Joe Torre tell him he needed to talk to Ausmus. Once he did, he recognized the same quality he’d seen in Leyland, just presented in a shiny new package, and likely a bit less colorful one.

The Tigers don’t need a teacher. They are not rebuilding, or developing young talent. They simply need to keep their talented player working together, and Dombrowski felt Ausmus would be the best man for that job.

In an old interview with Ernie Harwell, Brad Ausmus describes how he handles pitchers:

“Last year, we had rookie catchers handling a young staff,” pitching coach Rick Adair said. “This season, Brad Ausmus and Bill Haselman are expert and experienced catchers. They are aggressive and not afraid to make important decisions on their own.”

Ausmus likes the aggressive approach.

“People give too much credit to hitters,” he said. “Every pitcher should go after the hitter, not tread too lightly. Bill agrees with my outlook. That makes it easier for our pitchers, no matter which one of us is behind the plate.”

Brad should work well with the current Tigers quartet of star starters. Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, and Anibal Sanchez show no fear in challenging hitters.

The Tigers will hire Brad Ausmus as their new manager.

Ausmus, a former major league catcher, has served as special assistant in the San Diego Padres’ front office since 2010. He has never served as a manager or a coach at the big league level, but did manage the Israeli national team that failed to qualify for the World Baseball Classic in 2012.

Ausmus played for four teams in his career, which spanned from 1993-2010. He played for the Tigers for part of the 1996 season, and again from 1999-2000.

Looking in the Lahman database, it appears Ausmus, a Dartmouth alumnus, will be the first Ivy Leaguer to manage a Major League team.

There seems to be a trend lately to hire people with little managerial experience. I wonder if clubs have analyzed the traits to good managers and look for those traits? There seems to be a lot less recycling than when I was young.

Update: Other Ivy League graduates did manage in the majors, as pointed out in the comments. I’m not surprised by this, as Ivy schools were also sports powerhouses before the 1920s. There does seem to be a large gap, and all of the managers listed in the comments attended the schools before the formation of the official Ivy League in 1954.