Terry Foster: Ausmus Must Stay True To Himself

By Terry Foster
The Family Deal

Tiger's general manager Al Avila turned into the master dodger when he made the media rounds to talk about the toxic mix surrounding manager Brad Ausmus' job status.
The Tigers survived a 10-8 scare against the Minnesota Twins Monday, after blowing an eight-run lead, however talk continues to focus on Ausmus.

Avila spoke to several media outlets and blamed the Tigers poor start on poor play, bad luck, and young players trying to find their way. But he did not give Ausmus a ringing endorsement. Do those things really matter?

He told the Free Press no comment when asked about Ausmus' job status. That is hardly an endorsement. Instead Avila decided to kick the can down the road.

How many times have team general managers and owners pledged that a coach or manager was his guy one day, then fires him the next? Ausmus is on the hot seat but I do not believe he is close to being fired. The Tigers want to evaluate things during this nine-game home stand before making a firm decision.

My gut feeling is the Ilitch family and Avila are looking for reasons to keep Ausmus through the remainder of the season. However, another swoon could change that.
Of course if Ausmus was really their guy they'd give him a two-year contract extension and remove the lame duck label that sits above his head like mistletoe around the holiday.

"I can understand everyone's passion," Avila told reporters. "But I have to look at things in more of a calm fashion."

Meanwhile Ausmus showed more fire Monday than he has all season. It began with a testy media session before the game and continued when he was kicked out of the game for arguing balls and strikes. I am certain that Ausmus is tired of the toxic atmosphere surrounding him.

But what is one of the biggest gripes that fans have with Ausmus? They say he lacks passion. Was this an angry manager or a guy trying to show the world that he can melt steel when he is upset?

First he responded to a question from Fox 2's Jennifer Hammond.

"You know what Jen," he said. "I get it. I'm on the hot seat. I might get fired. We're done talking about it. You wanna talk about baseball. You wanna talk Tigers, that's fine. We're beating a dead horse."

Free Press columnist Drew Sharp stirred up the pot when he questioned Ausmus who said this is not about the team.

"It's not part of the team," he said. "This is part of the white noise. The team is out here working hard every day trying to win, going about their business the right way."

And I loved the way Ausmus barked at an umpire to protect one of his guys. This could all be window dressing but fans wanted Kirk Gibson hot fire and they got it for one day.

However, Ausmus must stay true to himself.

But I bet a bunch of folks dug what Ausmus did.

(Foster can be reached at Terry.Foster@cbsradio.com)