Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun posted an article (http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-schmuck-orioles-1009-20111008,0,3333086.column) yesterday which stated that no matter what title Showalter has, that it will be Buck who is calling the shots for the Baltimore Orioles.
I see no reason to believe Schmuck’s analysis is flawed, but it would absolutely be a mistake to allow Showalter to effectively select his boss. A Manager reports to a General Manager (or a President of Baseball Operations). It makes perfect sense for Orioles Majority Owner Peter Angelos to solicit feed-back from Showalter. It makes no sense for Angelos to allow a subordinate to dictate the hiring.
There are qualified options that are interested in coming to Baltimore. Who are you going to hire, that is going to come to Charm City to be dictated to by a Manager? Who else in the game would operate in such a manner?
A fair response to my qualms above would be, who would you rather handle the hiring – Angelos or Showalter? My response would be that it would be fine for Showalter to suggest names. While Angelos is completely unaware of who is or is not qualified (or who is interested in coming here), I do not think that is reason enough to had over the hiring to Showalter.
Why couldn’t Angelos form a committee to vet candidates? That committee could be comprised of past players like Palmer, Ripken, Murray, Anderson. While Gillick, and Hemond remain Advisors elsewhere, perhaps they would be allowed to participate. How about reaching out to 3rd party sites like Baseball Prospectus, or FanGraphs and paying them for their analysis? Why not add someone like Baltimore native Dan Szymborski? Szymborski operates Baseball Think Factory, and provides content to ESPN. Szymborski’s ZiPS projection system is utilized across the game.
I don’t think putting together such a committee would be that difficult to accomplish. The alternative of just allowing Showalter to effectively handle the hiring is both lazy, and not well thought out.
Again, there are qualified people interested in the job. If the O’s are willing to conduct a legitimate search (and allow these Executives to run the organization as they deem fit), Baltimore will have their pick of multiple qualified options.
If the Orioles want the Mgr. to effectively hire his boss, their options will be limited.
A listing of the best candidates available, with commentary from numerous Analysts of who they believe the best hire would be; can be found at: https://baltimoresportsandlife.com/?p=3052
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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.