Tigers hire Ron Gardenhire as manager
— -- Ron Gardenhire has been hired as the next manager of the Detroit Tigers, the team announced Friday, with the sides agreeing to a three-year contract.
Gardenhire, 59, spent this season as the Arizona Diamondbacks' bench coach. He managed the Minnesota Twins?for 13 years, leading them to six postseason appearances. He was fired after the 2014 season.
"I've been here, battled here against this team for a long time," Gardenhire said. "Always respected it."
Gardenhire brings a reputation as a players' manager and was a help to first-year Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.
Gardenhire replaces Brad Ausmus, who was told last month that his contract would not be renewed.
The Tigers are in rebuilding mode and traded J.D. Martinez, Justin Upton and Justin Verlander this season. They finished with a 64-98 record.
"As we transition the ballclub in a new direction, I feel it's best we have a new approach and a fresh start with the manager position," Al Avila, executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager, said in announcing Ausmus' departure.
Gardenhire also interviewed Wednesday for the Boston Red Sox managing job.
Ausmus is another candidate to fill the Boston vacancy, as is Houston Astros bench coach Alex Cora, who interviewed for the Detroit job. Cora is perceived across baseball as the likely front-runner for the Red Sox job.
Gardenhire led the Twins?to a record of 1,068-1,039 and is second only to Tom Kelly on the team's managerial wins list.?
Gardenhire was named American League Manager of the Year in 2010 and guided the Twins to six AL Central Division titles from 2002 to 2010, including an American League Championship Series appearance in 2002. Overall,?his postseason record was 6-21, with the last win coming in 2004.
Over his final four years in Minnesota, the Twins went 78-148 from Aug. 1 on for an abysmal .345 winning percentage.
The Twins finished 70-92 in Gardenhire's final season, making him just the fourth manager in the game's history to preside over at least four straight 90-loss seasons with the same team, joining Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics (nine), Zach Taylor of the St. Louis Browns (four) and Kelly (four).
Gardenhire rejoined the Twins as a special assistant to general manager Terry Ryan in 2016, and he joined the Diamondbacks before the 2017 season.
Gardenhire had surgery to remove his prostate gland on April 18 and rejoined the Diamondbacks on May 14. In August, he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he had received a clean bill of health.
Information from ESPN's Scott Lauber and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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