AJ Hinch: ‘We want more and we know that we can do more’
AJ Hinch: ‘We want more and we know that we can do more’
Detroit — Remember when reports surfaced late in September saying the Tigers and manager AJ Hinch were nearing an agreement on a contract extension?
“Those reports were baseless,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Monday with a wry smile.
They were baseless because Hinch and the Tigers agreed on a contract extension at midseason. They just didn’t announce it.
“I absolutely love working with AJ,” Harris said, during the team’s season-ending media conference at Comerica Park. “He’s one of the best managers in the game. We have now proactively extended him twice because we want him to be here as long as he willing to be here and I want to work with him as long as I possibly can.
“It was one of the easiest conversations I’ve had because he wants to be here and we’re both bullish on the future of this organization and we are proud of what we’ve done.”
The Tigers, as per organizational policy, don’t make public the contract terms for the manager or coaching staff.
Hinch, 51, ranks eighth on the Tigers’ all-time managerial wins list with 394 in five seasons. He’s guided the team to the playoffs and eight postseasons wins over the last two years.
“I love it here and I love working with Scott,” Hinch said. “This was the second time I was approached and asked for more and it’s an immediate yes for me. When you have an environment that both pushes you and satisfies you, I was thrilled.”
Once he got the OK from his wife and family, he signed the deal. With one stipulation: that it wouldn’t be made public during the season.
“It’s hard to look at where you are personally in the middle of the season,” he said. “Which is why my one request and Scott’s one request was that we just do it and not talk about it. It’s about the players during the season, it’s about winning and we had a lot of games left.
“We didn’t want to be a distraction.”
Hinch and his family have been growing roots in the Detroit area over the last three years, since Harris signed him to the first extension before the 2023 season.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am to be the manager of the Tigers,” he said. “It’s a rewarding place to be. We’ve bought a home here. We live here the majority of the year and we continue to become more and more Michiganders as a family.
“I am grateful for Chris (Ilitch, chairman and CEO), for Scott, for Jeff (Greenberg, general manager). All of us are on board to bring a World Series here. That’s why I want to be here.”
Hinch said there would be discussions later this week about his coaching staff. It’s possible there will be some changes.
“We evaluate every possibly way we can get better,” he said. “I think our staff answered a whole lot of the challenges we’ve been given and all of that is in a really good place. But we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t debrief about our entire group.
“But I am really proud of this group of coaches and the culture we’ve created.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
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