Detroit Tigers: Brad Ausmus AL Manager of the Year?

Detroit Tigers fans have a love-hate relationship with the third-year manager, Brad Ausmus.

In reality, the relationship involves Detroit Tigers fans loving to hate him, rather than just loving him. But, a tweet from Peter Gammons gives Ausmus some serious credit for the 2016 baseball season.

The tweet quickly addresses the fact that Ausmus has had to work with three young pitchers and disappointing veterans, but is only a handful of games out of the division lead. The Tigers are also a mere two games out of the Wildcard, too.

The tweet sure did come as a surprise, especially to fans who have been calling for Ausmus to be fired for his entire tenure as the Skipper.

Is Gammons right? Does Ausmus need to be in the talks for the AL Manager of the Year award?

Possibly.

Working with Injuries and Disappointments

The tweet is true. Ausmus had managed a team plagued with injuries. He has had to work with the rotating door of Minor League players. He has also been given a slew of disappointments – namely Mike Aviles and Mike Pelfrey. Not to mention the troubles with Jordan Zimmermann in every month not named April. He has also had to manage Justin Upton, who has had the most inconsistent season of any position player on the team.

Then, consider the injuries. J.D. Martinez, one of the best hitters in baseball, was out for a handful of weeks. And, as soon as he returned, Nick Castellanos, another top hitter, went on the DL. Add to that Jose Iglesias and Cameron Maybin recently, too.

Despite all of these issues, Ausmus has managed the team to the success it is currently seeing.

We, Tigers fans, do know that the success could quickly turn around and become a slump, but the team still manages to ride the roller coaster back up the hill. Should Ausmus be given credit for the overall season or should we continue to criticize him for the minutiae of the inning-by-inning managing that he has to do?

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Judging Day-by-Day Decisions or the Whole Year?

Yes, Ausmus had made some questionable decisions in many games. This does become a measuring tool for managers. But a manager should also be judged on the outcome of a 162-game season. With a season as challenging as this one has been, Ausmus should get some credit for keeping the players together and being as close as they are to leading the AL Central.

Prior to today’s game against the struggling Los Angeles Angels, the Tigers are 4.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians. The Tigers are also 2.0 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for a Wild Card spot.

Should Brad Ausmus be named the AL Manager of the Year? Not right now. Should he be in the conversation? Certainly and that conversation becomes more interesting if the Tigers can top Cleveland in the next few games.