Tigers end speculation, pick up Ausmus’ option

DETROIT — Brad Ausmus will be back for a fourth year as the Tigers’ manager. The team is picking up the option for the final season on his original contract, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The Tigers have not confirmed the move, first reported by Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.

Though Ausmus said more than once over the final week of the season that he wasn’t worried about his status, even having some fun about the speculation, there was at least some suspense about it given the Tigers’ historic win-now mantra. Detroit rebounded from a slow start to stay in the race for an American League Wild Card spot until the final day of the regular season, finishing with an 86-75 record.

General manager Al Avila said in July that Ausmus’ future wouldn’t be decided until the season ended, raising speculation he could need a postseason berth to improve his job security. However, Avila has been pretty consistent in praising Ausmus’ work.

“I think he’s done a good job this year,” Avila said in July. “I think he’s managed our bullpen tremendously this year. I mean, you can go back and criticize maybe one or two games and question something, but there’s always …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com