Ausmus 'probably wouldn't have come back' if offered new contract

Brad Ausmus was ready to move on.

The Detroit Tigers announced Friday they will not be bringing back the 48-year-old skipper for 2018, ending his managerial tenure with the club after four seasons. But even if Tigers general manager Al Avila decided to extend Ausmus' stay in Detroit, he admitted he likely would have still parted ways with the team.

"I fully understood. And I told (Avila) if he had walked in and offered me a contract, I probably wouldn't have come back," Ausmus said Friday, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck. "This team, this organization is starting over and needed a new voice. And sometimes you have to be able to evaluate yourself."

Ausmus also revealed he is willing to take up another managerial job in the majors at some point, according to Beck.

Since taking over in Detroit, the look of the Tigers has changed drastically throughout Ausmus' tenure. However, no season has produced as much key turnover on the club's roster as 2017, where J.D. Martinez, Justin Verlander, and Justin Upton were among the names shipped out, appearing to kick-start a rebuild in the Motor City.

First hired in November 2013, the Tigers are the only club Ausmus has ever managed in MLB, though he did also coach Israel's national side during the qualification stage for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Ausmus owns a 312-325 managerial record in his four years with Detroit.