Not much has been happening in Birdland on the free agent front; however, the Orioles are still trying to fill some coaching vacancies. This weekend, they interviewed former Pirates manager John Russell for the bench coach position.
That being said, I’ve always wondered what the bench coach does and this weekend in an article, the Sun’s Dan Connolly answered that for us. I always thought the bench coach was more or less an assistant to the manager, did the dirty work for him and acted as a buffer/soundboard to the players.
For the most part, my assumption was right; then again, it looks like a bench coach does a lot more for a team than I ever realized. That’s good to know. Meanwhile, Terry Crowley is on the ‘same page’ with the Orioles and their plans (along with his for moving forward).
Obviously, we are not privy as to what goes on behind closed doors, but Crowley said it he was his choice to move on.
Other than that, the Rookies of the Year for the American and National League are being decided on today as the awards season throughout Major League Baseball continue. Well, I think Buster Posey should win the National League; meanwhile, I think Neftali Feliz has it hands down in the American League.
No, Brian Matusz should not be give any consideration for the award. As well as he looked towards the end of the season, the consistency was not there for him to gain any special mention.
Finally, with the Winter Meetings taking place this week, let’s see what developments come out of it for the team and throughout Major League Baseball.
As much as I would like to see the Orioles go after the Cliff Lee’s of the world, an Adrian Beltre at third base, a trade for Adrian Gonzalez, or a Victor Martinez as a DH-1B solution, I’ve resigned to the fact it probably won’t happen. I’m sure that there may be a trade or two that happens with the Orioles over the winter months to come.
I would like to see the Orioles be more aggressive on the market (for the sake of their fanbase), but who knows how fast Andy MacPhail will move this time around.
