Detroit Tigers to fire manager Brad Ausmus at season's end

The Detroit Tigers have seen a fall from grace like few others have over the last month, sliding from second place in the American League Central to cellar of the division. And the front office personnel is less than pleased.

According to Bernie Smilovitz of WDIV-TV Local 4 News, Detroit is set to fire manager Brad Ausmus at the end of the season. The former catcher is in his second season at the helm of the Tigers, though things have taken a turn for the worse in 2015 after the team finished 90-72 a season ago. Detroit sits some 11 games below .500 entering Friday, and saw the likes of David Price and Yoenis Cespedes moved at the July trade deadline with chances of catching the Royals in the division seeming useless.

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Newly-promoted general manager Al Avila, who replaces recently-departed Dave Dombrowski, will now get to hand select his own manager entering his first full season at the helm. Avila’s desire to hire his own man for a “fresh start” reportedly played a role in the decision to part ways with Ausmus after 2015.

The report mentions former Twins skipper Rob Gardenhire as a candidate the Tigers will consider for the position, though no other candidates have been directly linked to baseball’s newest managerial search. Washington’s Matt Williams, Seattle’s Lloyd McClendon (formerly of Detroit), Philadelphia’s Pete Mackanin and Boston’s John Farrell could all be looking for new dugouts to call home this winter, while former Padres manager Bud Black, former Reds skipper Dusty Baker and others with managerial experience could also be brought into consideration. That’s all speculation, however, especially with the trend of first-time manager hires becoming increasingly popular.

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