There's "no chance" that manager Buck Showalter will move from the dugout to the GM's office, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter). Showalter loves managing and plans to continue in his current role.
There's been lots of speculation that Showalter, who has developed a strong relationship with owner Peter Angelos, could become Baltimore's GM if president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail steps down. Despite all of the recent rumors about possible leadership changes, Angelos may convince MacPhail to stay put as well.
The Orioles are 103-116 in one and a half seasons under the 55-year-old Showalter, who has also managed the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Rangers.
It’s almost too bad. After a year of him whining about not being able to compete with the payrolls of the Red Sox and yanks while being unable to compete with the smaller payrolls of the Jays and Rays, I almost wanted to see if he”d actually take on the challenge instead of complaining.
Right, because clearly you can fix years of building through the draft in 18 months.
He did a good job of knocking the Red Sox out of the playoffs…. and ultimately that’s all that matters.
I always thought it was more of a tactic to fire up his guys, anyways. But nothing tops seeing all the Red Sox fans pour of Camden with their jaws on the floor, unfortunately most of them probably just had a 20 min drive to some suburb of Baltimore/DC, and then next year they will denounce the Sox.
Ahh…the joys of being a fair weather fan. There for the good times and absent for the bad ones…what’s the point of loving sports if you don’t suffer with your beloved team?
you could theoretically love the game of baseball more than you care about a logo (of which the ownership, management, and roster changes over time)
crazy, i know, but theoretically possible
of all your well written, logic and RELEVANT statistic filled posts, I like this the best. Cheers.
Were you really even paying attention? You’re confusing Showalter with previous regimes. Showalter never complained about it. He kind of takes the complete opposite side of that.
Showalter always talks about stop complaining about tough division rivals and budgets, that it’s not an excuse. The classic Showalter line is more about playing against the best, however it’s dealt to you, grow up, and this is the big leagues.
showalter also likes the “win rule” yet let kevin gregg attempt to close games the entire year.
I think he’s referring to the begining of the year when Showalter made comments about the Sox payroll in spring training.
I guess maybe?
Maybe there’s a sound byte out of context or two where he sounds like he’s complaining, but the vast majority of his moves and comments are about being “men” and stop making excuses.
I guess maybe?
Maybe there’s a sound byte out of context or two where he sounds like he’s complaining, but the vast majority of his moves and comments are about being “men” and stop making excuses.
Dipoto please God!!!!!!
Good. Showalter is a top manager and is more valuable in that position. I’d be fine if MacPhail stayed in his current capacity too. Other than not signing big name free agents that wouldn’t have made a difference in the standings, his moves have been regarded favorably. Player development is the area that needs to be addressed. And I think a consistent and well regarded pitching coach at the Major League level is an underappreciated need. While our pitching wasn’t great to start with, it tanked even worse when the pitching coach changed.
yes, buck is clearly a top manager. letting kevin gregg close and vlad bat cleanup all year were strokes of pure genius.
And his alternatives? Who on the O’s is prototypical clean up hitter? I might give you Gregg, but it wasn’t until the second half of the season that he truly imploded. But again, who’s the alternative? Johnson, who was hurt part of the year and didn’t hit his stride until the second half? Koji? The guy I wanted as closer was traded for Reynolds.
if you think letting vlad bat clean up all year was a good decision- or that gregg (yes even in the 1st half over koji who was one of the best relievers in baseball) closing games was a good idea then i dont see any point in discussing this further.
Yes, just completely ignore that he implied that he wasn’t on either the Vlad hitting cleanup and Gregg closing bandwagons and drive your point home. He never said he wanted to keep Gregg as closer (at least in the 2nd half) and pointed to the other two options being unrealistic given the timing of his poor play. Also the other options for hitting cleanup, Jones and Reynolds, are hardly idle in that role. Jones belongs at 3 or 5, and Reynolds is a 5 or 6. In Showalter’s defense, at least Vlad has been worthy of hitting cleanup historically. I mean come on, we are talking about the 2011 Orioles right? The team is lucky to have any depth at all.
I will state it again. Who would have been his alternatives? For all your outrage, surely you’ve taken the time to think of who he should have used instead. You can not argue that Buck misused his players when he didn’t have the right players in the first place.
I will state it again. Who would have been his alternatives? For all your outrage, surely you’ve taken the time to think of who he should have used instead. You can not argue that Buck misused his players when he didn’t have the right players in the first place.
In addition to player development, I’d like to see a larger international presence. So much untapped talent…
I agree. I see player development, scouting, and international signings as the main reasons for the Orioles to have floundered for so long. Doesn’t matter who the owner, GM, or manager is.
You want MacPhail to stay in his current role? Name 1 thing. I mean it one good thing MacPhail has down outside of helping to build facilities and a few good trades. You must be incredibly deluded if you think he should stay as general manager.
Other than not making BIG free agent signings? What free agent signing has he made PERIOD that was worth anything? MacPhail has been the worst free agent signing GM I have ever seen let alone the worst the Orioles have had. His international signings have been incredibly sub-par. He has kept the Stockstill’s on board in player development and they have been awful. I just can’t believe that is your opinion. Its staggering.
“Deluded?” It’s always a classy thing to name call when disagreeing with someone else’s opinion. It always makes your argument that much more credible.
You are deluded if you think it makes my argument not credible.
I like Dipoto. He did a good job as a fill in GM for the D backs. He’s responsible for a couple big trades that netted them the players they needed to make the play offs this year.
This is probably a good thing. Get a new GM (who can work with Angelos and Showalter and the other crazies at the Orioles? I dunno) and promote MacPhail or hire him as a consultant (for trades, especially). Showalter stays in the dugout but has significant say in personnel, obviously.
Now how does Bob Nightengale know this for sure?
I mean Andy MacPhail does not return phone calls to the Baltimore Sun Press and for that matter neither does Peter Angelos. Also, since Nightengale knows all, why isn’t he telling us if Andy Mac is staying put or if someone else is coming in to save the day?
As for me I want Chuck LaMar!
Lastly, what is with all this flora and fauna these days (Nightengales and Porcupines) commenting on the Orioles? Next thing you know you’ll have disenchanted Phillies fans complaining about the squirrel that ran onto the field, cost them the game somehow. Not David Freese and his 4 rbi’s and how Oswalt had no answer for him.
????
Sorry Porcupine, I didn’t mean anything by it. Except it was a play on the name Porcupine and Nightengale. That’s all.
As for Jeff, well as I have said before on here, I can’t win them all
Just giving you a hard time. Isn’t that why the internet was made? Haha
Ummmm k. It’s possible (though unlikely, as you obviously discrened) that Showalter gave him the info.
As for LaMar … there are better choices IMO.
As for the rest of your comment… maybe you should keep your musings to yourself.
It seems obvious that it is difficult to acquire players at the major league level. If the O’s signed 10 future all stars in the minor league free agent draft when MacPhail took over, most would still be in the minors 4 years later. Britton was signed before MacPhail. Weiters, Matusz and Arietta after. It takes most players 3-5 years to develop. If there is something obviously wrong with the O’s player development, I haven’t heard what it is. I would give MacPhail more time.
Seriously?
Even if I go back 15 years, I can probably count on one hand the number of players that Orioles have drafted and developed into solid major league players.
Off the top of my head…
Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Erik Bedard, Matt Wieters. Yeah, I’m stuck…
Researching…
Yeah, that’s it. Four players. One hand. Unless you want to count Jerry Hairston and Zach Britton. And that only takes one more finger on the other hand.
Note: Now that I actually did that research, I’m even more disgusted by the Orioles than I usually am. Four solid ballplayers in 15 years? That is beyond pathetic…
There seems to be an interesting translation going on here between signing and drafting. It’s my understanding that MacPhail did not draft Wieters or Arietta. He may have been on board when they (O’s) finally signed them. As for Matusz, I really don’t know what to say except I am disappointed, that’s very disappointed. Also, if we are going to play the semantics game you used the word heard, there’s a big difference between hearing and listening. You mean to tell me that you have heard no complaints about the Stockstill Boys and Joe Joradn, if you haven’t then you must be deaf! No, MacPhail should be given his walking papers. He’s had four years to do something. He’s in the bottom two in the world of GM’s the other being Ed Wade. I can’t stand apologists. Richard Justice is Ed Wade’s and Peter Angelos is MacPhail’s. Haphazard is the best way to describe MacPhail’s time as President of President of Baseball Operations