The Detroit Tigers have the fourth-highest payroll in major league baseball, behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Despite this, the Tigers have lost 11 out of their last 13 games.
Still, the players are publicly defending their manager Brad Ausmus, who has been with the Tigers since November 2013. It has been shown that the quality of team managers does matter. Going back 25 years, players had their best seasons under former Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland, Bacon said. Leyland did not use computerize coaching, which has become popular. Instead, he trusted his instincts.
The Tigers have a nine-game home stand against low-level competition coming up. They must play well in order to turn the season around. If not, Ausmus could be gone by June.