Failed LA Angels manager Brad Ausmus heads to AL West rival

When Mark Kotsay was hired by the Oakland Athletics to be their new Manager, it showed that the LA Angels' division rival MAY not be done just yet.

They made what has been considered to be a good hire, and per MLB insider Jon Heyman, they will also be inking former LA Angels manager Brad Ausmus to be their bench coach.

Ausmus is a very interesting choice due to his experience as a manager in this league. An experienced, 18-year catcher in the league, Ausmus was hired by the Tigers to manage their team in 2014. He won the division the first year, and failed to make the playoffs again in the next three years he managed Detroit.

He had two losing seasons there and finished with a well-under. 500 record in Detroit. His bounce-back attempt with the Halos didn't go as planned, as Ausmus went 72-90 in 2019 despite having the best player in baseball on his team. The five years of managerial experience, however, is something many other bench coach candidates don't have to offer.

The A's are familiar with who Brad Ausmus is as a coach due to facing him 19 times when with the Angels.

The Oakland A's had some good success against Brad Ausmus when he was with the LA Angels, going 13-6 against Anaheim. Oakland made the postseason that year.

Ausmus of course ended up only being in Anaheim for one season. He was known as one of the smartest players in the game when he played, but his managerial career hasn't gone the way some may have expected. Other experience he has as a coach was with the Israeli national team, which he managed in 2012.

We'll see what type of impact this has on the A's. If they truly do decide to blow the team up, his job will of course become much more difficult.