Ausmus won't dwell on reports of Tigers firing him

CLEVELAND -- He had all day to think about it, about what he would say to reporters on this, his 302nd and most tumultuous game day as a major league manager, and he thought about it.

“It’s not hard to think about,” Brad Ausmus said, “but I certainly haven’t been dwelling on it.”

It is his job status, which, after sizeable speculation as of late, was officially thrown into the wind late Thursday night, when two Detroit news outlets — the Free Press and Channel 4 (WDIV-TV) — reported that longtime Tigers owner Mike Ilitch intended to fire Ausmus after the season.

Many hours after he heard about the report Thursday night, after he chose not to comment on his future with the team, and a few hours after he spoke with general manager Al Avila this morning — who reiterated that the entire Tigers organization is going through an evaluation process, manager included, and that Ausmus would remain at the helm for the duration of the season — the second-year manager sat in his office chair behind a desk in the visiting manager’s office at Progressive Field and spoke calmly and collectively and with more than one of his trademark quick quips about the situation at hand, termed “awkward” by Avila earlier in the day.

“I talked to Al this morning,” Ausmus said. “Since then, it’s been business as usual.”

But at the moment, the business on hand was anything but usual, with Ausmus fielding question after question about his future with the team.

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Ausmus has one year remaining on a three-year contract, signed before the 2014 season, and the team holds an option for 2017.

“I have a contract and I will do everything I can to help the Tigers until they tell me they don’t want me to help them or until the contract expires,” he said. “Whichever comes first.”

Asked whether he wanted to return next season, Ausmus replied: “Yeah, absolutely.”

He said he didn’t make any push to speed up Avila’s evaluation process or hear anything regarding his future from Avila earlier in the day.

“I’m very comfortable where everything is right now,” he said. “I think Al’s statement covered it.”

The first-year general manager — appointed to his position after Ilitch ousted president and general manager Dave Dombrowski on Aug. 4 — issued this statement around midday: “I have stated several times since becoming executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager that we are evaluating all personnel, and know that includes the players, the manager and his staff, and minor league operations. In fact, I re-confirmed with Mr. Ilitch and Brad Ausmus this morning that these evaluations are on-going and decisions in any of these areas will be made by the end of the season.”

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Asked whether he had complete certainty that Ausmus would manage the team through its final scheduled game, Oct. 4 at the White Sox, Avila said, “Yes.”

“I’m not going to put odds on it,” Ausmus said about the confidence he had in returning next season. “I don’t want people to be betting.”

But with three playoffs losses last year — the Tigers were swept by the Orioles in the American League Division Series — and many more in the regular season this year — they are 64-76, standing in last place in the AL Central — those odds don’t seem to stack in his favor.

In saying that Ilitch intended to fire Ausmus, the Free Press cited a person with knowledge of the front office’s plans, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the situation publicly. Channel 4 sports anchor Bernie Smilovitz cited a source in the front office who he said he had been in contact with for the past two weeks. The person was not further identified.

Under Ausmus’ watch, the team’s pricey payroll has not played up to expectations set by the Ilitch, 86, who is longing for his first World Series championship and has put his money where his mouth is to try to win it.

If Ausmus isn’t awarded a contract extension by the end of the season — and Avila said there had been no talks between the sides — he would enter 2016 as a lame-duck manager.

“Not at all,” Ausmus said about feeling like one after Thursday’s reports. “These guys will continue to play the game the right way and people want to make about that and often, managers use it in the final year of a contract to try and get an extension but the truth is, the players will respect you or not respect you regardless of what your contract status is.”

Some players in the Tigers’ clubhouse were aware of the reports. Others were not.

Ausmus was made aware after Thursday night’s loss to the Indians, through text messages from inquiring minds that wondered about an “exclusive report” that Smilovitz teased during the Patriots-Steelers broadcast.

“I had no idea, quite frankly,” Ausmus said. “So I found out the same way everybody else did.”

He said that the reports caught him out of the blue, and that he neither felt stung nor awkward with his fate being discussed publicly by people inside the organization.

“I love anonymous sources,” he said. “They don’t have quite the spine to put their name next to their words.”

Ausmus reports just 'noise' to Tigers players

And while Avila’s words on the podium conveyed confidence — he said “I believe in Brad Ausmus” during his introductory news conference Aug. 4 and that Ausmus would be his manager through the end of the season — Ausmus’ words in his office conveyed a quieter sort of confidence with the cool demeanor that he has captained the ship with for the past two seasons.

Asked what the most trying part of this season had been, he joked to a reporter, “You.” Asked about the harsh realities of being a big-league manager, he said, “I still haven’t hung pictures up on my wall in the office.”

Ausmus played 18 seasons in the big leagues. He spent three seasons as a special assistant with the Padres after, and the last two seasons as Tigers manager. He has been a baseball lifer and has heard the saying that “mnagers are hired to be fired.”

“Very few managers end up walking away from the job,” Ausmus said. “They’re usually told to walk away and even when they’re not fired, they’re often just rehired so trust me, I’m aware of that and I’m aware of that since I’ve been a player.”

And he was never more aware of it as a manager than he was today.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.

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