At 15-39 the Baltimore Orioles hold the worst record in Major League Baseball. They just completed a 0-6 road trip where the team was swept by the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. Obviously things had to change, so President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail felt it was time to make a move. He then fired Dave Trembley, and announced that Third Base Coach Juan Samuel will be promoted from Third Base Coach to Interim Manager.
I don’ think this will be some magic fix for the organization. In fact he might not even be the thing that is really wrong with this club. Samuel represents the ninth manager of this team since Peter Angelos became the principal owner back in 1993. That means his mangers average 1.8 seasons at the helm before they are replaced. Not a very good statistic.
Trembley actually beat the average as he was brought to town two and a half years ago to help develop the young nucleus of Oriole talent. He was brought in after extensive work in the minor leagues, and for his knowledge of fundamentals of baseball. Apparently he did not fit into phase two of this team’s rebuilding plan. Whatever that is suppose to mean.
The facts here are this team has only had two great seasons the entire time Angelos has been the owner. They have been trending downward for the past four years. I have no idea what phase two of the rebuilding plan will be, but this team does have some young talent. More than this being a failure by the coaching staff, it seems it is a continued failure of the management of this team.
Related Links:
• Baltimore Orioles news and notes • The Business of Major League Baseball •MTR Bseball.com
