A.J. Hinch signs contract extension with Tigers: ‘I love working here’
Evan Petzold
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Detroit Tigers have signed manager A.J. Hinch to a contract extension, as announced Monday by president of baseball operations Scott Harris at MLB’s winter meetings.
Harris approached Hinch on Oct. 2 — the day after the regular season ended — about the extension, sparking negotiations. The two sides completed the extension in the week after the 2023 season ended.
The specific terms of the contract were not disclosed.
“I love working here,” Hinch said Monday at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. “I love who I work for. The Ilitch family has been incredible to me from the day that I entered the organization. I think we can win here.”
Hinch’s
initial contract, which he signed
Oct. 30, 2020, under former general manager Al Avila, was set to expire after the 2025 season, so the 49-year-old had two years remaining before tacking on the extension.
But Harris said he didn’t want Hinch to feel like an “inherited manager” because of the circumstances in the 2022 season.
The Tigers fired Avila in August 2022 and replaced him with Harris in September 2022. Harris has been the Tigers’ president of baseball operations, as well as Hinch’s boss, for more than 14 months. Jeff Greenberg, hired as general manager in September 2023, also played a role in keeping Hinch as the Tigers’ manager for many years into the future.
“We’re not going to share the term or details of the contracts for non-players,” Harris said. “But we’re pumped that A.J. is going to be the manager of the Tigers for a long time.”
Harris, Greenberg and Hinch went to dinner on Oct. 2, the day after the Oct. 1 season finale against the Cleveland Guardians. When Harris brought up the contract topic, Hinch showed immediate interest in working toward an extension.
Before the dinner, Hinch sat next to Harris at an end-of-season news conference and reaffirmed his commitment to the Tigers in front of reporters, saying, “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
“I didn’t really see it coming,” Hinch said, discussing the extension two months later, “but I had tried to make it very clear how much I love working for Scott . ... When I said I wanted to be here, and I didn’t want to be anywhere else, that wasn’t a message to Scott or Greeny about it, but it was perfectly timed to solidify what was a new relationship into a deeper trusting alignment.”
Hinch owns a 221-265 record with the Tigers in his first three seasons, from 2021-23. Detroit finished second in the American League Central standings with a 78-84 record in 2023.
The Tigers haven’t reached the postseason since 2014; Hinch hasn’t reached the postseason since 2019 as the manager of the Houston
Astros. He managed the Astros from 2015-19, as well as the Arizona Diamondbacks from 200910, and won the 2017 World Series as part of his 10-year career.
He was fired after the Astros’ loss in the 2019 World Series, though not for on-field reasons. Rather, the firing was related to the one-year suspension Hinch received from MLB for his inability to end his players’ sign-stealing in 2017. Hinch was contacted by the Tigers immediately after his ban was lifted, and a few days later, he officially joined the Tigers after the Chicago White Sox hired Tony La Russa, rather than Hinch, as their manager.
Overall, Hinch has 791 wins in 1,508 games. Only three active managers — Bruce Bochy, Bob Melvin and Bud Black — will enter the 2024 season with more career victories.
“It’s awesome,” Hinch said. “When you feel like you’re home, it makes you happy . ... When they approached me to add security to a place that I love, it’s a no-brainer.”