Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire is entering the third and final year of the contract he signed with the team in 2017, and there haven’t been any talks of a contract extension.
And according to Gardenhire, that’s just fine.
“Listen,” he said, “When you lose — how many did we say, 114? I didn’t finish the season thinking, ‘Man, can’t wait until they extend me.’ We talked about it and said let’s give this time. We will talk at the end of the season or somewhere near the end of the season, and I will let them know whether I want to and whether they want to — it’s going to be a mutual thing.
The Tigers indeed lost 114 games last year, up from the previous season’s 98 losses. But according to GM Al Avila, Gardenhire isn’t entering “lame duck” status.
“That’s never been an issue,” Avila said. “He’s a good manager and he knows what he’s doing. He can get players’ respect whether he has a one-year contract or a five-year contract.”
For Gardenhire, he’s been around the game plenty and is only concerned with doing his job, and the rest will take care of itself.
“I’m not worried about that at all. I’ve been managing a long time, and I want to see us win ball games. I want to have some fun shaking hands a little bit more, and then I’ll know I’m doing my job.”
