The Detroit Tigers are in the middle of a three-game series at Comerica Park against the Los Angeles Angels which means former Tigers’ manager Brad Ausmus is back in town.
Ausmus was manager of the Tigers from 2014-2017 and during that time, he quickly wore out his welcome in Detroit, especially amongst the fans.
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On Wednesday, Nicholas Castellanos was in attendance at the Detroit Tigers’ annual luncheon with the Detroit Economic Club and he had some very interesting comments to describe Ausmus as a manager compared to current Tigers’ manager, Ron Gardenhire.
From Detroit News:
“Just different personalities. Brad’s a little more, you know, analytical. He’s very intelligent. Umm,” Castellanos told the audience during the midday gathering at MotorCity Casino, before Wednesday night’s game at Comerica Park. “But he could — sometimes he doesn’t communicate his feelings very well. It’s not his fault, you know. It’s just how he is. But he’s great at being the way that he is. Without question, he’s a great manager. Gardy is a better communicator, you know, he’s more available, and he relates to his players more, and he makes guys feel more comfortable, which I think is important when you have an inexperienced team. A team needs that. They need that comfort feelings from your skipper. It’s important.”
Prior to Wednesday’s game, Ausmus was asked about Castellanos comments.
“I’ll take him at his word,” said Ausmus, the Tigers manager from 2014-17. “I was with Nick for four years, I think very highly of Nick. If that was an issue, hopefully it’s not anymore.”
Castellanos later expanded on his original comments, detailing how Ausmus and Gardenhire are different types of managers.
“Gardenhire is more in the clubhouse, a lot more talking with people in here that, you know, need that pick-me-up and everything, where Brad didn’t really do that as much,” Castellanos said. “He stayed more in his office and things like that. They just have different styles.
“Not one is right, and not one is wrong. Both managers can run an extremely successful clubhouse and win a World Series with their styles. It’s just two different ones.”
“I love Brad. I love Brad. He was the first manager, I’ve grown a lot from him, he’s called me in his office and had hard conversations with me that I needed to hear as a younger player and I responded to them. But I also think, too, where having a lot of young players that don’t have a lot of at-bats, who don’t know themselves in the big leagues that are still worrying about, ‘Can I play here, I want to stay here’ …
“There’s a lot of internal pressures that a player can put on themselves when you have a clubhouse like that, and a style like Gardenhire can be beneficial.”
“Brad is who is he, you know? You guys know him from dealing with him while he was here,” Castellanos said. “Brad is who he is. There’s a lot of people that really like Brad exactly the way he is. There’s other people who say, ‘Ahhh, he’s kind of a prick,’ or whatever. Those are their opinions of those people.
“I like Brad a lot. I think he’s a great manager. I think Gardy’s a great manager.
“It’s not my job to pick who manages this team.”
