Six candidates to replace Brad Ausmus as Detroit Tigers manager
Brad Ausmus is out as the manager of Detroit’s baseball club, and the only mild surprises about that announcement are that the Tigers didn’t wait until the end of the season to officially make the move, and that Ausmus will finish out the season as the skipper.
About 15 seconds after digesting that news, baseball fans across the country moved on to the next question: Who will manage Detroit’s baseball club next season?
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One big thing to keep in mind: This is not a “win-now” situation. The Tigers have just begun what could be a relatively long and frustrating rebuilding process. That’s not the type of job every potential manager would relish.
That said, here are a couple of names you’re likely to hear connected to this position.
Alan Trammell
Why he makes sense: Obviously, Trammell’s connections to this franchise run deeper than pretty much any other potential candidate. He played his entire 20-year career in the bigs with the Tigers, and he should have gone into the Hall of Fame wearing a Detroit hat (that’s another conversation, though). A couple of years after he retired as a player, he managed the team for three seasons. Speaking of that, though, it’s fair to wonder whether this is the time/place Trammell would want to jump back into managing the Tigers. That club was going through a rebuild, too — his first team went 43-119 — and these next two years (at least) feel destined for 90-plus losses, too.
Trammell, 59, works for the Tigers now, with an official job title of special assistant to the general manager (the GM is Al Avlia). For an idea what he’s up to now, this Katie Strang Q/A in The Athletic Detroit from a couple of weeks ago is outstanding. Includes quotes like this, on his current job responsibilities: “Well, I’d call it a ‘jack of all trades’ and really, what that does is it allows me to be a part of pretty much everything. Starting with the minor leagues and then when I pop into Detroit, I’m watching the big club. I can interact with them. I'm included in all of the meetings, obviously for winter meetings to trade deadlines to after-the-season meetings.”
Sandy Alomar
Why he makes sense: Alomar has earned an incredibly high level of respect in baseball, not just during his playing career but as a coach, too. He’s been on the shortlist for other manager jobs — in Chicago, Boston, Cleveland and Toronto — but has yet to get the job. Alomar would be a home-run hire for Detroit. Here’s the problem, though. He’s the first-base coach in Cleveland right now, and that’s a ball club that’s rather focused on a potentially long postseason run.
Lloyd McClendon
Why he makes sense: McClendon checks two important boxes: He has experience as a big-league manager (2001-05 with the Pirates, 2014-15 with the Mariners), and familiarity with Detroit’s current situation (he was the Triple-A manager last year, and he’s the Tigers’ hitting coach right now). It’s fair to wonder whether he’s eager to jump into a situation that’s probably, at the very least, three years away from fielding a club capable of pushing for a playoff spot.
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Omar Vizquel
Why he makes sense: Like McClendon, Vizquel is very familiar with this current Detroit club. He’s been with the team as the first-base coach since November 2013. Unlike McClendon, Vizquel has zero managerial experience, either in the majors or in the minors. Taking over a rebuilding project might be a little daunting for a first-time manager.
Gene Lamont
Why he makes sense: Lamont is a baseball lifer, with long ties to Detroit — going back to being a first-round pick by the club in 1965’s June Draft. He was hired as Jim Leyland’s third-base coach in 2005 with the Tigers, and he’s been the team’s bench coach for the past five seasons. The Detroit News noted that GM Al Avila specifically mentioned Lamont and McClendon as two current coaches on the team who will be encouraged to apply for the job.
Mike Redmond
Why he makes sense: Redmond, who is currently the bench coach in Colorado, has experience as a big-league manager, serving two-and-a-half years as the Marlins’ skipper under owner Jeffrey Loria. His second Marlins squad made a 15-win improvement, but a slow start in his third year led to Loria firing his manager (shocker, right?). As MLB.com reporter Jon Morosi points out, Redmond was a player on the 1998 Marlins, a team managed by Jim Leyland, the former Tigers’ manager who is a special assistant to the GM, just like Trammell.