Brad Ausmus named Tigers' next manager

Brad Ausmus is the Detroit Tigers' next manager, as the team confirmed the move Sunday afternoon.

OFFICIAL: Brad Ausmus has been named the 37th manager in #Tigers history.

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) November 3, 2013

MORE: Cabrera injury update | Leyland's legacy | Baseball's winningest managers 

Ausmus, a former All-Star catcher, played for the San Diego Padres, Tigers, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1993 to 2010. He was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, and became the first manager for Israel in 2012's World Baseball Classic.

"This is a winning franchise," Ausmus said at a press conference announcing the move. "I think I should be held to that standard as well."

The Tigers were looking to replace Jim Leyland, who stepped down as manager two days after the team's loss to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. Ausmus is 24 years younger than the man he's replacing, and he inherits a roster with a high payroll and several big names, including Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera. He'll have a chance to win right away, and he'll have to deal with high expectations.

"Anybody you hire has some risk attached to it," general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "Even a veteran manager that you bring in with a new club, where they are in their life, there's risk attached to that."

The contrasts with the crusty-but-respected 68-year-old Leyland are obvious, and Ausmus will have to prove he can guide this star-studded team through the inevitable rough patches — but it wasn't long ago that Ausmus was on the other side of that player-manager relationship. He played in 1,971 games with four different teams. He played for the Tigers for part of the 1996 season, and again from 1999-2000.

"I've got to be me," Ausmus said. "Jim Leyland — great, Hall of Fame manager. I'm not going to be Jim Leyland. I would never make an attempt to be Jim Leyland. I'm going to be who I am."

In addition to a brief courtship with the Cubs, Ausmus also reportedly was a candidate for the Nationals' managerial vacancy. That job went to Matt Williams, a former San Francisco Giants slugger and Arizona Diamondbacks coach.