Former Baltimore Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter was under consideration for several managerial jobs. He actually interviewed with Philadelphia, but was also being considered for the NY Mets and possibly even the Anaheim Angels. To this point, no soap in terms of finding a team.
Technically the Pittsburgh Pirates’ job is still open. However oddly enough, Dan Duquette is also under consideration for the GM job there. Duquette and Showalter reportedly didn’t always see eye-to-eye in Baltimore. So odds are if Duquette ends up being the guy they hire, I wouldn’t look for Buck to get the job in Pittsburgh – who incidentally appears to be going about their managerial search the right way in that they’re looking for a General Manager first.
So what does that mean for Buck? It probably means that he won’t be managing in 2020, as of right now. All of the aforementioned teams have hired someone or are on the verge of doing so. Thus I suspect that Buck Showalter, who brought the Orioles out of the depths of the doldrums, is heading home.
I have to say that I’m surprised. While there was certainly interest by several teams, I would have thought that a manager such as Buck Showalter would have been one of the first hired. So what exactly worked against him?
Odds are we’ll never know. However Showalter does have the reputation of doing things his own way. I always recall the story of when he managed the Arizona Diamondbacks and raised a hullabaloo about the fact that the red on the carpet in the home clubhouse didn’t precisely match the red on the jerseys. Buck’s a perfectionist; to a fault, as many might point out. To the point that he almost becomes a burden.
And it wouldn’t shock me to hear at some point that part of what moved the Orioles to move on from him was that type of attention to detail. And I say that with admiration – because I’m the exact same way. And I’ve seen it in my own life; I’m told that I get a little too in your face when it comes to attention to detail. And sometimes that drives people away. So while it sounds like I’m calling Showalter out, I’m actually not. Because I have a similar worldview in that regard.
Another knock on Buck is that he doesn’t really buy into any of the new-age analytics, which caused the majority of his downfall in Baltimore. However I would also say this; look at what happened to Houston the other night. They picked a heck of a time to have their computer analytics fail them – in game seven of the World Series. So while old school, can we really say that the game’s passed Buck by? Apparently many GM’s and owners feel that it has. But again, when you put all of your faith in computers as opposed to people…sometimes that’s going to happen.
I do think that if he wants to do so, Buck will manage again. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him called in as an interim manager when and if a team dismisses their manager early in the season. But for now, while not set in stone, it appears that he’s staying home.
Birdland Crush 