Orioles reportedly set to hire Showalter as manager

SportingNews staff reports 2 hours, 10 minutes ago

The Baltimore Orioles have settled on Buck Showalter to be their new manager, FOX Sports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reports.

Rosenthal, via his Twitter account, reports the sides are close on terms and that Showalter will be in uniform sometime after the All-Star break. The move won’t be made official until later this week, Rosenthal reports, because Major League Baseball discourages teams from making major announcements during the sport’s showcase events.

Showalter was one of the favorites to become the O’s next full-time skipper. His chances improved greatly when Bobby

Valentine pulled out of the running to pursue the Florida Marlins’ managerial post.

Other candidates included former Indians manager Eric Wedge and former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey, now a televison analyst for the club.

The Orioles own the worst record in baseball (28-59 entering play today). Team president Andy MacPhail fired Dave Trembley on June 4 and replaced him on an interim basis with Juan Samuel. Baltimore was 13-20 under Samuel prior to today’s game.

Showalter has an 882-833 record in 11 seasons as a major league manager with the New YorkYankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers. He is a two-time AL Manager of the Year and has reached the postseason twice (1995 Yankees, 1999 Diamondbacks).


I'm good.

I'm happy with that and it's nice they are carrying some momentum into the All Star break. I'd much prefer a strong second half for respectability and to see what the young guys are made of than to get a #1 draft pick.

Amazing what a 4 game sweep in Texas and a new manager with a record of success can do for your psyche. I feel pretty good today.

Screw the draft pick. The kids on this club need to see major league success or else there will be some serious questions being asked about them.

The best medicine for this organization over the remaining 75 games or so is to play well, finish 10 games above .500 over that time, and get those kids accustomed to succeeding in the majors.

Orioles interviewing Samuel?

By Mark J. Miller

Juan SamuelBaltimore Orioles interim manager Juan Samuel has gone 14-20 since he took over the team in early June and he'll still be at the helm when the season picks up again after the All-Star break ends later this week.

The O's and ESPN analyst Buck Showalter have supposedly been close to a deal for some time but the Baltimore Sun reports that no offer has been made yet, even though team president Andy MacPhail and Showalter met for the third time this past weekend to talk some baseball.

The Sun reports that "one of the holdups in making an offer to Showalter could be that the Orioles have yet to comply with a commissioner's office directive by interviewing a minority candidate." Samuel, who hails from the Dominican Republic, may end up getting a formal interview to comply with the directive.


A 50-something English speaking white guy is not considered a minority, yet.

Feeling good about Buck. Since Davey, it seems like every manager has been an unknown scrub. Showalter has a record of turning young teams around. Hopefully he'll do it here.

Thanks, Dan! could not agree more. I imagine many do.
Omar and I had a "chat" last night, your comments make a good summary of that chat.

I just read the reason Showalter got the nickname Buck.

He used to hang around the locker room "buck" naked when he was a player.

If he can lead the O's to the playoffs, he can walk around my apartment naked for all I care.

AOL Fanhouse is reporting he'll be taking over the team this weekend.

It's a small and inconsequential thing. But why couldn't they just finalize it over the All Star Break, announce it the day after the All Star Game, and have Showalter in the dugout for their first game after the break on Thursday? What is it that they can't get done until this weekend?