According to Ken Rosenthal, over at FoxSports.com, the Orioles may have a plan for their new manager going into next year. The 2010 Orioles are currently stuck in a season that feels more like an absinthe-induced waking nightmare than reality. The 2010 Orioles are proof that God does not exist; because no right and just deity would allow this to happen. The 2010 Orioles are – um – very very bad. I am running out of literary allusions and loquacious, semi-colon riddled, sentences to describe it and the 2010 soundtracks has gone from upbeat indie-rock to Tom Waits and Bauhaus.
The Orioles, however, are looking to the future with their managerial search. As names like Showalter, Valentine and Melvin swirl about the Warehouse a plan may be emerging something that may be pretty controversial. As Rosenthal reports everyone in the organization is preparing for a massive shakeup and the likelihood of that happening in the middle of a season is next-to-nothing but that won’t stop the Orioles from finding a manager in the near-term.
The supposed plan is to hire the 2011 manager and have them work as a special consultant to General Manager Andy MacPhail evaluating every aspect of the of the organization from the major league team to the development strategy in the minors. Current manager Juan Samuel would no-longer be the manager next year, if he is even in the organization, and the new manager would be given the opportunity to implement his changes.
This is a pretty bold idea in my mind and one I can get behind. I like the idea of the new-hire working behind the scenes and taking the rest of the season to scour through the entire organization and make changes where necessary. But there is one obvious problem; how will the players react to this situation? How does Samuel run the team when the “real” manager is in the owner’s box with MacPhail? For this plan to work though the Orioles need to hire someone like a Showalter or Valentine, they need to hire someone whom brings instant credibility to his position and carries instant clout within the organization. Bob Melvin, Ryne Sandberg sorry, you will not work in a role like that but I would find it hard to believe that anyone would question the decisions or advice of Showalter or Valentine.
Say the Orioles go through with a plan like this, what would the manager be looking for? Would the rest of 2010 essentially be one long job interview for the entire coaching staff and the players themselves? What, if any, restrictions would be placed on the new boss in this plan?
Honestly, the fact we are even having this conversation shows how tragic this season is. Think back to March for a second, think about it. Even if you thought that Dave Trembley wouldn’t make it through the year no one thought this was possible. No one thought that on June 19th the Orioles would have fewer than 30 wins let alone 20 wins! One thing that is for sure the 2011 organization appears that it is going to be vastly different than its current form and whether that transformation begins in July or September it is a transformation that is sorely needed.
