For months the future of Andy MacPhail as President of Baseball Operations with the O’s has been a question. The questions started before the season, as it was known that MacPhail did not have a contract for 2012. The last real statement provided from the Orioles, came in March when O’s Majority Owner Peter Angelos stated that MacPhail, ‘Was not going anywhere.’ That statement came when optimism abounded for the 2011 season. Despite the good-will generated with the way the O’s ended September, 2011 fell significantly below pre-season expectations. (Prior to the year, Baltimore Sports and Life received the predictions of 19 different Baseball Writers, with the average predicted record being 78-84.) After a 30-31 start, the O’s went 39-62, to finish the year 69-93.
Due to the extreme struggles of the O’s from mid-June, through the first week of September; the expectation from many has been that MacPhail would not return. Those thoughts only gained momentum when MacPhail was offered numerous opportunities to clarify his status over the last few months, and declined to do so.
Yesterday, there was a meeting between Angelos, MacPhail, and Manager Buck Showalter. While it is possible that some sort of statement comes out today, it is puzzling there was not an announcement yesterday. MacPhail has had months to decide if he wanted to stay or go, so what is the delay? There have been numerous reports of Angelos asking MacPhail to stay on in some capacity. Presumably, MacPhail has had plenty of time to consider if he would want to remain in a Consultant type of role.
Hand-in-hand with this is Showalter, and his future with the O’s. It has been widely reported that Showalter has regularly met with Angelos during the year. It was rumored for sometime that he could move to the GM position, with perhaps Randolph or Russell becoming Manager. As noted by Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-macphail-0930-20110929,0,2068357.story), Showalter is apparently conflicted about leaving the dugout to run the Front Office. Even if he does not become the GM, there seems to be little doubt that Showalter will have significant influence on the hire.
There are numerous problems here.
Showalter should not even be a candidate for the GM position. It is not a question of aptitude, as he clearly has the requisite intelligence, baseball knowledge, and organizational skills. It is that when you have been a losing organization for 14 consecutive years, that it makes little sense to ask him to be the GM, when he has zero Front Office experience.
Often you hear people point out that Angelos has not hired an existing Assistant GM since Frank Wren. If Angelos has problems with an Assistant GM ascending to the GM position, someone will have to explain to me why someone with zero Front Office experience makes sense.
The only reason you would make such a move is out of laziness. Again, I’m not saying that Showalter could not be successful as a GM. I’m saying that giving him the position would represent an odd choice. One of the opportunities presented when you have a change in leadership, is the ability to interview numerous qualified candidates from external organizations. The O’s should absolutely be doing this. You want to bring these options into The Warehouse, and you want to ask them what their individual philosophies are, and what has made their organizations successful. You want to ask them what deficiencies they see with the O’s, and be willing to listen to their feedback.
Simply promoting Showalter fails to provide any of that.
Also, obviously it would pull Showalter out of the dugout. It can be argued how much influence a Manager has, but Showalter’s reputation in the game comes from what he has accomplished as a Manager. If you replace him as Manager, do you give the new Manager the ability to name his own Coaching staff? Do you want to go through that Coaching turnover for a second year in a row?
I have to say though, I like the idea of promoting Showalter to GM, better than I like the idea of Showalter having influence on the GM hire. The General Manager / President of Baseball Operations is effectively the Manager’s boss. I know of no other organizations (not limiting this to Baseball) where a subordinate would have the ability to help hire his boss. Allowing that to happen, would give further credence of a dysfunctional organization.
There are qualified Executives throughout the game who are interested in coming to Baltimore. Until MacPhail’s future is announced, nobody is going to inform the O’s of their interest. Hopefully an announcement of MacPhail’s plans come today. If MacPhail has decided to stay on in the GM / President of Baseball Operations position, that should also be announced to the fan-base.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.