Buck's place is definitely NOT the FO. He's a good manager who made some odd decisions this year (batting Vlad 4th and using Gregg as a closer) and I'd be very disappointed to see him repeat those mistakes.

Buck should be both GM/Mgr, to streamline rerererebuilding in earnest... we can't afford the wasted energy of new rivalries or competition in mgmt for the Angelos' favor. Short of that, make Buck a VP, hire a GM who is not Pres of Operations, so that Buck has a veto over any of his moves. Paul Richards had both jobs in raising the StLBrown-Orioles
to competitiveness, then when Lee McPhail became GM ca 1960, he retained veto. An afterthought, the Tigers won only 2 more than this yr's Os back in 2006... in that time we became the StL Browns again.

I think it awesome that the shake up is happening--it needed to happen. I like Showalter staying as coach. However, he needs to be given great latitude in decisions. He also needs to have access to spending some money to get players, esp. pitchers, that can come in and will be staying for a 4-5 year range. IMO, Buck could work either position, I just like him in the dugout; but whatever will make the O's a contending team again, I'm for it!

It will be a good thing if the Orioles sign two top of the line FA starting pitchers, an impact bat in his prime, a left fielder, a second baseman, and upgrade offensively and defensively at first base and third base.

The odds on that happening with Angelos still the owner are about the same as pigs flying over Baltimore. As a matter of fact, given the odds on either, my money is on the pigs.

It is not a good thing, it is a great thing.

I am very pleased that Showalter will not 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 would fail 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. If the O's want to hire the best alternatives, they will not allow Showalter to control that hire.

Angelos' Orioles, Dan Snyder's Redskins. Is there a difference? They both tease. They both never please.
Look for another decade of hopeless mediocrity. Or enjoy the steady stream of front office kool-aid

Knowing what a great guy guthrie is, i don't think saying that it was a 50/50 chance was such a ringing endorsement for buck coming back as a manager. Some how it almost sounded like he wished he would have gone upstairs. Maybe i am wrong????

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No, Bob. what he meant was that he didn't know which way it would go. That he thought Buck going upstairs was a 50-50 proposition. Not that he was 50-50 on wanting him to move. Make sense?

I think the O's are better off with Buck in the dugout. What needs to happen is they hire a really good baseball man for the GM job and then leave him alone to do that job. It also wouldn't hurt if PA would break open the wallet and make some REAL moves.

A good thing, considering the fact that Showalter has no front office experience whatsoever.

Dan, I have to disagree with you about the Orioles being "still far away from competing". If you had said far from contending, then I'd be more inclined to agree.

The distinction being, as I understand it, that a competing team is more often than not going to have a chance to win on any given day, a team that can be expected to finish around .500 (like the Blue Jays.

On the other hand, a contending team is one that's better than just being competitive, it's one that has enough quality player to be in contention for a post-season bid.

As for Buck, staying in the dugout is clearly the right move. He's developed a real bond with players like Matt Wieters (whom I believe should be named captain for next season) and Adam Jones.

Keeping Showalter as manager is the right move.

I really don't know what his credentials or backgrounds are to even consider him as a GM. The position is based on running a business, and to just thrust him into it without any formal training would be irresponsible.

The correct thing to do would be to hire somebody with a winning track record and is in touch with todays game. It's not an insult to Buck, but he's better off as a field manager for now

Does anyone really believe that this team will belong to anyone except Buck Showalter in 2012? No matter the GM or President of Baseball Ops, Buck will run this team.

And I'm perfectly OK with that. I hope he drops Stockstill and Jordan immediately and bring in a competent FO personality with intelligence and luck and drive toward winning.

While I am okay with Showalter out of the front office, I am worried about confusion in the chain of command. This has been a significant problem in the past for the Orioles, and I am concerned that the new GM will have authority conflicts or confusion with Buck. I hope I am wrong. Because of this, the new GM will have to have a very assertive and confident personality. I might be more in favor of a veteran front office guy than I was in the past. Am I wrong to be worried about this?

Hopefully Buck will do a better job with elimination of some of his blind spots. No Lee to clog the 3-hole, no Vlad to sabotage the cleanup spot, no Gregg as closer (unless Angelos is OK with a full scale fan-riot). Matuz will return to minors so Buck won't be able to feed him to wolves every 5th day. Had Buck seen what everyone in western world saw re Vlad, Lee, Gregg, Matuz, O's may have won 80 games this year.

I think it's a good thing. He can have significant influence on the organization from his position as manager of the MLB team in establishing how things are done throughout the minors. It's not necessary for him to be in the front office to have that impact. I prefer to keep Buck in the dugout and bring in someone with front office experience, though not necessarily as GM.