With the Orioles moving on from Hyde after 6+ seasons, we look at three different approaches the O’s can take in selecting their next skipper.
It’s been four days since the firing of Brandon Hyde, the Orioles’ first in-season manager change since Dave Trembley was fired after 54 games in 2010. For many, Hyde’s firing was something long-awaited; for others, Hyde is seen as the scapegoat for the failings of Mike Elias and the Baltimore front office. However, most in Birdland understand that this O’s team was not a Brandon Hyde firing away from becoming the team we expect them to be.
It’s worth noting that the last time the O’s parted ways with their manager in-season, they eventually signed Buck Showalter in August. Showalter would go on to rack up the second-most wins of any Orioles manager and lead the 2014 Orioles to their first ALCS in appearance in 17 seasons. Showalter forged a legacy as a manager beloved by players and fans, who was ultimately let down by a front office and/or ownership that was unwilling or incapable of giving him a foundation for long-term success.
The previous success the Orioles found in appointing Showalter will surely have Orioles fans wondering if the next long-term skipper is someone Elias will appoint before the end of the season. It’d be far from the norm, as most teams that fire their manager follow two paths. Either the interim manager performs well enough to have the interim tag removed, or sees out the season before being replaced. Showalter’s hiring was the last time we saw a team turn to an interim manager followed by a longer-term successor in the span of the same season.
However, just because there’s not a long precedent for finding a new manager mid-season doesn’t mean lightning can’t strike twice in Baltimore. Assuming Tony Mansolino won’t earn himself the title of full-time manager, let’s explore the three paths the O’s could choose to take in finding Brandon Hyde’s successor.
The Showalter Route: Add a Veteran Leader
While Showalter himself probably wouldn’t want this job (as he doesn’t typically manage youth-oriented teams), there are a couple of veteran managers sitting at home who could fit with this Orioles team. If the Orioles wanted to go the same route the Rangers did when hiring Bruce Bochy, Joe Maddon feels like a potential great fit in Baltimore. The now 71-year-old Maddon is plenty familiar with the AL East, having won two AL East titles and one AL pennant in nine seasons as the Rays’ manager. Maddon also guided the Cubs to their first World Series win in over a century when they won it all in 2016.
It was Maddon who helped the Rays establish a franchise tradition of turning a collective of unheralded pitchers into an upper-echelon pitching staff year over year. He also took over a Chicago team that was built around a young core of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Javier Báez, turning that team into a playoff team in year one and champions in year two.
There are plenty of similarities between that Cubs core and the Orioles’ current crop of budding stars, lending credence to the idea that Maddon could get the best out of Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and Co. The only questions regarding Maddon would be whether he still wants to coach (he’d be the second oldest manager in MLB) and whether his disastrous stint with the Angels from 2020-22 was an aberration or evidence of his decline.
A younger option for the Orioles to consider is Maddon’s successor in Chicago, David Ross. The 48-year-old had an unspectacular four-year run in The Friendly Confines, putting up a .480 winning percentage while making one postseason appearance in 2020. The Cubs were a team in transition during Ross’ tenure, with former stars Rizzo, Bryant and Báez all departing in Ross’ first full season in 2021.
The former MLB catcher’s so-so run as a manager may be more so a result of the Cubs going through a period of retooling their roster than a reflection of his skill. Ross would certainly provide a different approach than what we’ve come to expect from Hyde. His Cubs teams were much more aggressive on the basepaths, while Ross was less aggressive than Hyde when it came to pulling his pitchers. With 15 years of experience as a major league catcher, Ross is the type of manager who can work with the team’s pitching coaches to develop a plan to maximize the current pitching staff.
The Craig Counsell Route: Promote from Within
In May of 2015, the Brewers fired fourth-year manager Ron Roenicke and promoted Counsell from special assistant to the GM to full-time manager. The then 44-year-old had no previous managerial or coaching experience, but parlayed the faith the Brewers showed in him into a nine-year run and five playoff appearances. Counsell’s hiring was an example of taking a chance on a manager despite his lack of experience because you believe in his upside.
While Mansolino, at 42 years old, certainly fits the age profile of a Counsell-like hire, there are two coaches on the current staff who perhaps offer higher upside. Infield coach Buck Britton has managed at every level of the Orioles system and helped guide the 2023 Norfolk Tides to an International League championship.
Britton has a rapport with the Orioles’ young hitters that no other current coach can replicate, having coached all of them at some point in the minors. The only potential red flag with Britton is the idea that, as a coach developed under the Mike Elias-led front office, he’d bring the same tendencies we saw from Hyde to the role of Orioles manager.
The true Counsell-esque, internal hire would be new bench coach Robinson Chirinos. Like most top managers, Chirinos enjoyed a long career as a backup catcher. He spent the last season of that 11-year career in Baltimore in 2022. Apparently, Chirinos made such an impact in that short time that Hyde brought him back three years later as his bench coach (usually the manager’s second in command) despite a lack of coaching experience. His experience as an Orioles player means there’s no coach, inside or outside the organization, who could better relate to the current players than Chirinos.
The Wait and See Wildcard
If the Orioles do choose to ride out the 2025 season with Mansolino on the interim tag, the one name that will surely be on every Orioles fan’s wishlist this offseason is longtime former O, Ryan Flaherty. After wrapping up his playing career in 2019, Flaherty became a development coach for the Padres and eventually worked his way up to major league bench coach by the 2020 season.
Flaherty moved took the bench coach role with the Cubs last season after being a candidate for the Padres’ manager opening. This year he’s part of the coaching staff that has the Cubs with the third best offense in the majors and atop the NL Central.
The former Orioles utility man would bring a a connection to the organization that could energize the fan base and the coaching experience to back it up. Should Flaherty be the next full time manager of the O’s, he’d be the first former Orioles player to manage the team since Davey Johnson in 1997.