I believe they are going to offer showalter a contract soon. But if they don't at least try to add a bat blocked on another team or trade for a fielder or dunn I must say the new manager is starting in a very big hole. Markakis is what he is. He is a great player for us but not a power hitter. He will get a ton of doubles and clutch hits but until he has some power protection behind him he isn't going to see pitches to pull to even hit his 15-20 HR. Jones is starting to show some power again and wieters will hit this year or next and maybe bell but none of them are the big power guy we need right now. Please andy don't wait til the off season do something to help the new manager now..

Aren't we past this yet? You know there has never been an Eskimo or Mongolian major league manager. Perhaps there should be a policy that they must be interviewed before a hire can be made?

Why can't the Orioles ever do anything decisively?

no we have gone backwards we are not past this and Angelos ignored it anyway

Day 87 of the Oil Spill. What will take longer, stopping the oil or naming a mgr?
Get it done already and move on .

Although I understand the intent of the rule, it has no substance and needs to be revised or eliminated. I say this because, it is common knowledge that Showwalter will be the O's new manager, so why bring a minority manager that has no chance no matter how impressive he may be during the interview. Baseball has done a decent job of giving minorities opportunities and there are quite a few minorities managing in ML baseball today. It essentially comes down to a business decision and who the owner and GM believe can get the most out of the team. Samuel has done a very good job and should get consideration for other manager jobs in the future. But as far as this rule goes, modify it to give it teeth, or eliminate it. As it stands today, the rule is insulting to minorities even though it has good intentions.

Day 87 of the Oil Spill. What will take longer, stopping the oil or naming a mgr?
Get it done already and move on .

Good one Jeff in GA!

Grant,

It would be nice to add a bat like Dunn or Fielder but it ain't happeing. Both are FA's after the season and it is doubtful either would re-sign with the O's, so you would be wasting what little resources the O's have in the minors. As for Fielder, he about 2 yrs away being solely a DH - he is 5'11 - 270 lbs - FAT! He thinks he can get a contract similar the Ryan Howard - which is a little far fetched - but he will test free agency - his agent is Scott Boras.

Plus, who would you put in the packages for these players? You need to trade talent to get talent.

It's time to announce a new manager now. I understand that Andy has a reputation for being deliberate, but this is actually becoming comical. The excitement I first felt when I heard that the Showalter hiring was imminent has faded. Now I'd just like them to get it over with so the players can focus on playing better ball. God knows they need as few distractions as possible.

Pull the trigger Andy !!

It'll happen when it happens. Really doesn't matter much at this point does it? I think the way the players have responded under Samuel is more evidence of just how bad Trembley was then it is something that might win Samuel the job. Hopefully though, being the first manager in some time to get anything resembling a spark of life out of this team, he'll earn a shot at managing in the big leagues somewhere. I really haven't got a horse in the managerial race, my sentimental favorite was Dempsey but he was never more than the most distant of long shots.
I'd rather see the team move quickly, but at this point a few days or another week or two really doesn't matter, though I'm sure they'd love to make an announcement during this home stand. My bet is that the holdup is Showalter as much as the O's. He wants to know just how much say he is going to have, just how much F.O. support he will get, and he's going to want a long term contract. He has a good gig now, so he's in no hurry, and he's going to wait until he gets what he wants.

Iceman, I agree about the hold-up being as much Showalter as the Os. And Showalter should wait to get what he wants, given the reputation this FO has regarding its managers. I have generally supported Andy McPhail throught the "plan", but this is getting ridiculous. Give Showalter what he wants and let's move on. The guy is a proven winner. I would hope our FO realizes that qualified candidates are not exactly lining up for this job. And they better realize that hiring an unproven has been a disaster. If I had Andy's ear I would tell him to get Showalter in here already. We need a manager who will garner respect from the players and for the organization. Being a major league manager is clearly a tough job, and only a few are really successful. If you have one that wants to run your team 9especially this team) grab him.

Only racists care about skin color. Get it, Selig!!!!!

BTW, who the heck cares what skin color the next Orioles manager has?

I care ONLY if the Orioles start winning more than losing.

The thing is we need a couple of bats. In 04 we went out and bought bats. The bats were not the problem then, it was pitching. Well now we have the starters, and a few key relievers. You can always i repeat ALWAYS buy vet. relivers. We should trade for fielder, a few prospects. I however dont think we should trade wigginton and i will get to that later. This is what our line up should look like next year.

1- Roberts, 2B
2- Jones, CF
3- Markakis, C
4- Fielder, DH
5- Dereek Lee or Adam Dunn 1B
6- Wieters, C
7- Tejada or bell, 3B
8- Wiggonton, SS
9- Pie, LF (will be all star if he can stay healthy)

Can we bring back Earl Weaver?

Brandon:

Nothing personal intended, but you want Wiggy to be the starting shortstop? Really? You have seen him play 2nd base, right?

Pat:

As much as I love and respect Earl Weaver, the O's weren't exactly tearing the league up when he came back to manage in 85-86. And at 80 years old, I'd rather see him enjoy his golden years. If he had to try and deal with the current O's team and management, I'd be afraid that it might kill him...

I understand why minority regulations are put in place, but at the same time, I would think some people would find it insulting.

"Hi, we're just interviewing you because you're black and the league says we have to."

If a guy is qualified, he's qualified. It's like Tony Dungy a few years ago. He knew the significance of being the first black coach to win the Superbowl, but he wanted to make it clear that he was there because he belonged, as a great coach, not because he was black.

I'm not saying racism is dead, but in today's era of professional sports, I'd be VERY surprised if the better candidate was turned down by an owner/GM (aside from Al Davis) because he was a minority.

Yeah I would much rather have Wiggonton playing short. He will bat better then .200 with a home run a season, cough cough. Izturis has never been the stud in the field, which is the reason why we signed him. How many 1 run games have there been this year, with Wiggonton in the line up, and Izturis out who knows maybe 1/3 of those games go differently. I would rather take a few more errors, then .200 and 1 homer. The best bet for Izturis is for him to go up and try to bunt everytime.

Brandon really knows what he is talking about!! make him our GM!!!!!