There's a third possibility. In the nearly 4 seassons since that interview, he's modified his approach. It also depends on what he means. If he's ignoring hit charts for shifting data, or batting a fast guy at leadoff despite a 275OBP, then that's a problem. There is quite a bit of data, though, that *is* more big picture than in-game. I dont see gardenhire, for example, making such an adjustment in his outlook, but that's just guessing.I'm more concerned with his comments with regard to analytics back in 2014.
https://www.blessyouboys.com/2014/1/6/5282146/brad-ausmus-sabermetrics-tigertalk
The concern is two-fold. Either the Red Sox are still a team that employs and embraces analytics more than most (a thought put in doubt by Henry's comments last year and Dave Cameron's this year) and Ausmus would be a bad fit for the organizational approach.
Or, more frightening, he would be a fit for the new approach and the team is genuinely de-emphasizing analytics as a tool and will continue to fall behind the curve in the following years.
I think a panel discussion of GMs about the managerial hiring process would be pretty interesting.