The season is officially lost for the Detroit Tigers in 2017. With under 40 games remaining in the regular season, the biggest topic of discussion will revolve around the foreseeable future, both immediate and long-term.
This includes everyone involved in the franchise, from the players and coaches to the front office personnel. General manager Al Avila will certainly have some decisions to make in the offseason. Among the bigger ones will be whether or not to retain manager Brad Ausmus.
Avila spoke on 97.1 The Ticket on Monday morning about those very impending decisions. Pertaining to Ausmus, however, he did not provide much detail in terms of his skipper.
#Tigers GM Al Avila tells 97.1 that he has not made a decision on Brad Ausmus. Declines to comment on what he likes, dislikes re: Ausmus.
— Tony Paul | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) August 21, 2017
This is the fourth season as manager of the Tigers for Ausmus. Avila opted to bring him back for the 2017 season after the team missed out on the playoffs in the final weekend of the regular season a year ago. Avila has also admitted that the Tigers “could have done it differently” after Jim Leyland retired at the end of the 2013 season when they decided to hire a rookie manager to lead a veteran-laden, experienced club.
The Tigers are currently 15 games under .500 at 54-69 this season. Ausmus has a career managerial record of 304-303 through Sunday’s action, with a lone postseason appearance in his first year.
Avila also discussed the future of his veteran ace Justin Verlander, who has been the subject of trade rumors for the better part of nearly two months now. Avila has doubled-down and reaffirmed the difficulty of moving Verlander in-season, but things could rejuvenate in the offseason.
#Tigers GM Al Avila to 97.1 on Justin Verlander being dealt this month: "Probabilities are minimal. … Winter time could be different."
— Tony Paul | Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) August 21, 2017
Verlander (9-8, 3.96 ERA) is coming off a dominant outing on Sunday against a Los Angeles Dodgers juggernaut, allowing one run on two hits over eight innings of work. Going back to his final start of the first half, Verlander has compiled a 2.36 ERA in those nine starts.
The production on the field has been little to no concern to potential suitors in recent weeks. Contractually, Verlander still has two years and is owed $56M; plus a $22M vesting option for 2020.
Avila says the “winter time could be different” when teams are ‘resetting’ their rosters and players come off the books.
