Detroit Tigers: Disconnection Shown Again in Ausmus’ Handling

A couple of weeks ago, a writer declared the Detroit Tigers had a disconnection between their front office, ownership, and the on the field product. This brilliant writer hit the nail on the head as the disconnection showed once again in the handling of Brad Ausmus’s job security.

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On September 10, Bernie Smilovitz reported an exclusive report that the Tigers would fire Ausmus at the conclusion of the season. Smilovitz knows better than to file a report like this without a reputable source giving him the information.

This means that either someone in the organization either had the information that the Tigers were going to fire Ausmus, or he was a high ranking member of the organization that wanted Ausmus to get fired so he leaked the information.

The information could have also come straight from one of the Ilitch family members. If it did, that means there is either a disconnect within the family where one person wanted Ausmus fired, but was later overruled, or changed his mind.

The Ausmus decision is the last in a line of decisions that either everyone did not agree with or regretted later on so they changed it. The Tigers did the same thing with Prince Fielder. They signed him to the long-term contract, saw it was a bad deal, and cut ship while still paying $30 million of his contract.

The Tigers’ front office did not agree on how to handle the trade deadline and it cost Dave Dombrowski his job. Now, Al Avila has made his first mark on the team by holding on to Brad Ausmus.

No matter what happens with the Tigers, the front office will have to work in unison toward a common goal to build a team that can contend for a World Series once again. This offseason will show if Avila is given free rein or if the Ilitch family still pulls the strings to build the team they want it build, rather than let the baseball personal build it the way they would like it.

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