Ive heard this myself over the years. Apparently he has a leadership quality that makes people think of him as managerial material. I hope and think there right. Im looking forward to see what he brings. Indeed. This guy not to young to be clueless and old enough to have some serious baseball knowledge and experience. Im hearing lots of positive responses to his hiring, so far.
interesting choice. not quite as far outside the box as my choice of Papa Gordo, but i think i like it.
A few things about the Ausmus hire. First off Im not a fan and Ill explain why. yes catchers tend to make good managers, they have a good understanding of the game and its the easiest transition I think for a player. That being said this is a head scratcher, especially for Illitch. in the mid 90's when the Wings were on the cusp of getting a ring but could never quite get over that hump,Illitch went out and got the best coach ever in Scotty Bowman. A big name who could keep all the egos in check and commanded respect - he got it and Illitch got 3 rings out of him. Excellent move. when the Dave Lewis experiment failed he went out and got the biggest name on the market in Mike Babcock. A guy who was well respected by the players and coaches alike - in turn Babs took him to 2 straight Cup finals and got Illitch another ring. The Tigers have taken about as much time as the Wings to get good and be a championship contender but almost immediately after hiring the big name on the market who also has the respect of players in Leyland, the Tigers make the World Series. 3 consecutive Division crowns and multiple trips to the Series. No he didnt win the big one but he more than did what was expected of him. He set the table for the next manager and all we needed was a guy that could get them over the hump. Enter a manager who has no managerial experience, a guy who i never thought was all that respected as a player and someone who I thought a good transition for a first time manager(plus hes a former player) would be to manage a team like the Astros thats building from the ground up. there were other guys that I think shouldve not only been given an interview but maybe be hired over Ausmus. Cal Ripken, has no experience but if your gonna take a chance on a guy with noe experience why not make it one of the games most respected players ever - whos not gonna listen to Cal? Mike Scioscia although managed a very underachieving team in Anaheim and wed need permission, knows how to handle the egos and is a good baseball mind and has won in the past. Charlie Manuel is another guy thats well respected and has a ring. hell even Ozzie Guillen(who i think is a big mouth idiot) also has a ring, wouldve got more consideration than Ausmus. Im not sold here and hope Im wrong but with a team this close and the big payroll I just dont see this as the right move. Time will tell
neither do I lulz and that should tell you how much I think of this hire. I know guys have won with no managerial experience in the past. I think we just had that in John Farrell. but let some other towns take that roll of the dice, our window is rapidly closing. Scherzer, Infante, Porcello and Peralta are all either gonna be gone or on their way out after next year. Now is the time to make it happen and im just very skeptical that this was the route to go
Of course I hope this choice works out, and I wish the best for Ausmus, but if i could have picked a manager it would have been Gibby and Trammell to go with him, they just wernt available. I think thats one of the key issues is availabilty.
funny you say that, thats exactly whats been in the back of my mind since Leyland retired. I would say great minds think alike but I tend to bring the grading curve down a notch or ten
well, the only problem with that is that gibson stated immediately that he wasn't interested, and trammell isn't exactly the most experienced manager.
I hadn't heard the Gibby part but Tram would be bench coach not the manager and he has plenty of experience in that regard
ya, pretty much the moment leyland stepped down, gibby came out and said he wasn't going anywhere. i'd imagine he was swamped by press as soon as the story broke, and he said fuck this, let's nip it in the bud.
Some interesting free agents out there that may be decent fits in Detroit. How about Shin-Soo Choo, patrolling the outfield, and maybe a Joe Nathen in the pen? Just some of the rumor mill stuff I read earlier.
laugh all you want but Im telling you they should lowball Zito and see if he bites. lefty pillow tosser with big game experience is exactly what this team needs. Dombrowski is he has a brain cell in his head will inquire, hed be stupid not to. This guy is ideal for the 5th spot and can give you 4 spot starts when need be. perfect for the bully come playoff time and he wont rock the boat. With Jeff Jones this guy will have a great season, perfect lefty ballpark too. Do it Dave!
I haven't followed the minors too much. Who do the Tigers have that might come up and make the big club?
The one that comes to mind is Nick Castellanos, he actually played 11 games with the Tigers last season. Should see alot of him in Spring Training. Here's a link I found that has a few of the better guys in the system: http://www.milb.com/news/article.js...id=63213878&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb
