Fansided

5 candidates to replace Buck Showalter as Orioles manager

By Brad Berreman

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 21: Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles looks on from th ebench during th egame against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 21: Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles looks on from th ebench during th egame against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Mandatory Credit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images /

4. Paul Molitor

Molitor won 2017 American League Manager of the Year, as the Twins made a second half run to the AL Wild Card Game. But a disappointing 2018, that was only a seven win drop-off, due to many factors out of a manager’s control (Miguel Sano’s weight, Byron Buxton’s underachievement, free agent underachievement, etc.) led to his dismissal. Vice president Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine inherited Molitor, and they had their reason to make a change.

Molitor adjusted to the analytics movement better than his predecessor Ron Gardenhire, as much as the idea of using an “opener” to start a ball game was probably borderline sacrilege to him. It’s possible he couldn’t effectively reach young players as they surfaced in the big leagues, but his time as a roving minor league instructor in the Twins organization points to a player development acumen the Orioles should be favoring in a new manager.

The Twins want to keep Molitor in the organization, for some reason after deeming unfit to be the manager, and he said he’d consider what he labeled as a “generous offer” upon news of his firing. But if an immediate managerial opportunity came, Molitor would surely consider it and Baltimore could now be an option.

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