The New York Yankees announced that Brad Ausmus has been named the club’s bench coach. Ausmus, 54, will begin his 34th season in professional baseball and his 11th as a manager, coach or front office executive.
His most recent Major League position was as the Oakland Athletics’ bench coach during the 2022 season. Prior to that, Ausmus managed the Los Angeles Angels in 2019 (72-90) and was a special assistant to Angels General Manager Billy Eppler during the 2018 season. From 2014-17, he managed the Detroit Tigers, guiding the club to a 314-332 (.486) record, which was highlighted by a 90-72 record and a postseason berth in his first season at the helm. Ausmus is one of 11 managers in Tigers franchise history to have won at least 300 games.
Immediately following his playing career, Ausmus spent three seasons (2011-13) with the San Diego Padres as a special assistant in Baseball Operations. He also managed Team Israel in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and was their bench coach in the 2023 edition of the tournament.
Widely regarded as a premier defensive catcher, Ausmus batted .251 (1,579-for-6,279) with 718 runs, 270 doubles, 34 triples, 80 home runs, 607 runs batted in, 634 walks, 102 stolen bases and a .325 on-base percentage over 18 Major League seasons with San Diego (1993-96), Detroit (1996, 1999-2000), Houston (1997-98, 2001-08) and Los Angeles-NL (2009-10).
Ausmus won three Gold Glove Awards (2001-02, ’06) and ranks fourth in Major League history in putouts by a catcher (12,839) and eighth in games played as a catcher (1,938). Additionally, among Astros catchers, he is their franchise leader in games played (1,243), hits (967), runs scored (410), runs batted in (385), walks (393), doubles (162) and triples (19). With Detroit in 1999, he was selected to the AL All-Star team, setting career single-season highs in home runs (9), runs batted in (54), on-base percentage (.365) and slugging percentage (.415). Playing with Houston in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS vs. Atlanta, he hit a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score at 6-6 and take the game into extra innings. The Astros eventually won, 7-6, in 18 innings, tying the all-time record for innings in a postseason game and clinching the series with the victory.
Born in New Haven, Conn., Ausmus graduated from Cheshire High School and was selected by the Yankees in the 48th round of the 1987 First-Year Player Draft. He opted to attend Dartmouth College but did not play baseball there, instead playing in the Yankees’ minor league system while working towards his degree, which he received in 1991. He played five seasons in the Yankees’ minor league system (1988-92), topping out at Triple-A Columbus in his final season with the organization before being selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 1992 Expansion Draft. After playing the first half of the 1993 season at Triple-A Colorado Springs, he was traded to San Diego on July 26 and began his Major League career two days later, starting at catcher and going 1-for-3 with a walk at Chicago-NL.