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Is Buck the Next to Go?

On Friday evening, the end of an era occurred in Baltimore and a new hope was positioned to lead the Orioles through dark and troubling times ahead.  The promotion of Cedric Mullins was expected with the lost 2018 season, but we weren’t sure when the Orioles would make the move or what it would look like in the end.  Would the Orioles only utilize Mullins as a late-inning defensive replacement or as a corner outfielder in platoon situations?  Neither of these scenarios came to be as the Orioles embraced the idea of rebuilding and placed Mullins in center to command the outfield.  Adam Jones who had been the #Cap10 for so many years ushered in the change by asking Mullins for lead the team out onto the field as a sign of the torch being passed to the new generation.

And with new beginnings we have to ask ourselves, who is next to pass the torch?  All eyes now fall to Buck Showalter who may be managing his last few games as Orioles manager.  Showalter, now entering his 9th season as Manager, has brought the Orioles back from the dark ages and once again brought winning baseball back to Baltimore.   However with a rebuild on the horizon, many in Birdland are asking if he is the best option to lead a new era of players.

According to SportsBettingDime, the probability of Showalter returning for 2019 is 7/8 (53.3%).  One would assume that number is higher than reality due to inability to decipher exactly what is occurring within the Warehouse.  Showalter has been coy in his responses on whether he would be back next season responding with quotes such as:

“It’s an honor every day for Dan and I to get a chance to do this,” Showalter said. “I don’t want to speak for Dan, but everybody would love to have a job that’s as much fun to go to every day. We have our ups and downs as a team, and it’s painful sometimes, but I’m thankful — and I know Dan is, too — every day to be able to be in the game of professional baseball, and more importantly, get a chance to work here in Baltimore.” – Baltimore Sun, July 28th

One of the things that made the Orioles so successful under Showalter was his ability to think ahead days, weeks, and months in advance in preparation for the schedule.  Showalter’s ability to work with Duquette to manipulate the roster in order to win the marathon of the season over a single game allowed the Orioles in certain seasons to exceed expectations.  And in Buck’s wording, it’s as if he already has accepted his fate and knows the time is coming to pass the torch.  Will it be to his bench coach, John Russell?

Russell has previous MLB experience managing the Pirates through the 2008-2010 seasons.  He posted a 186-299 (.384%) record during his time and the franchise was mired in a playoff drought that resembled the Orioles dark ages.  Regurgitating previous coaches and hoping they figure it out once again seems like a move the Orioles would have made during the dark ages.  However, the Orioles have switch up philosophies preaching a heavier dependence on statistical analysis, scouting, and international spending to improve their success ratio.  They have also pointed to other clubs having success with this approach namely the Astros and Cubs whom have hired individuals with a more analytically focused skill set, front office experience, and understanding of interpersonal/psychological scenarios either through study in the field or as a former player.

Candidates for the role could be:

  • Joe Espada, Bench Coach for Astros, Former Coach in Yankees/Marlins Organization, Managed in the Puerto Rican Winter League and has served as Puerto Rico’s third-base coach in both the 2013 and ’17 World Baseball Classic.
  • Carlos Beltran – Former Player and interviewed with Yankees following 2017 season.
  • David Bell – VP of Player Development for SF, Former Player
  • Joe Girardi – Former Yankees Manager and Former Player

Of course if the Orioles are looking for someone with all of the given tools, than maybe they will just turn to Brady Anderson.  The fanbase would probably be very excited over such a move, but there would be several questions before this turned into a happy story.  Would Brady even want the job?  Anderson has been reluctant to commit to a defined role and seems to enjoy the ability to transition to new projects as he sees fit.  A transition to a more traditional role may not be to his liking.  In addition, Brady has served in the role to work with younger players in terms of training during the offseason and seems like a gym rat.

“He was all over the place when I was there – in a good way,” Arrieta said. “He was there at 1 o’clock (before a night game), training Wei-Yin Chen or myself – (Chris) Tillman, (Brian) Matusz, (Zach) Britton, Tommy Hunter – whoever it was. We’d dead lift. Do intervals on the speed bike. Then sprints on the hill, the ramp where our parking garage was.  For BP, he’d be throwing to guys in the cage. He’d be in the outfield with the outfielders shagging at 100 percent. He’d have meetings with Buck, with Duquette. He was getting more involved on the front-office side. It was cool to see that. He felt like one of us, but he was also kind of on the business side.”  – Jake Arrieta from 2017

Anderson has run into trouble though with approach both with former coaches (Wallace and Chiti) and with players that don’t want to feel smothered by him being part of everything.  In addition, Anderson oversaw the contract extensions for O’Day and Trumbo which have been panned as failures.  However, Anderson has been part of the likely selection process for many of the Orioles players in the farm system as they stand now including their conditioning and development.  If the Orioles are looking for the best in-house candidate, then Anderson should be the next manager for the Baltimore Orioles.

 

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