The Baltimore Orioles are the only team in baseball without a manager. They opted against retaining Buck Showalter (whose contract expired at season's end) to begin the offseason, and have since delayed naming a successor due to a prolonged general manager search. The Orioles have a point guard in place now -- former Houston Astros executive Mike Elias -- and it appears they're inching toward installing a skipper.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Orioles intend to interview at least six individuals for the position, including two benches coaches in Chip Hale (Washington Nationals) and Brandon Hyde (Chicago Cubs):
Two current bench coaches - #Nationals’ Chip Hale, #Cubs’ Brandon Hyde - among those who will interview for #Orioles’ managing job, sources tell The Athletic. Team will talk to at least six in person. Ex-manager such as Hale thought to be preference, but new GM Elias open-minded.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 2, 2018
Peter Gammons adds the Orioles also intend to interview Mike Bell -- the brother of Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell and the Arizona Diamondbacks director of player development:
Mike Bell scheduled to be interviewed for Oriole managerial job. What a thing it would be to have Buddy's two sons earn manager jobs in the same off-season
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) December 2, 2018
It's worth noting the Orioles' stated preference was to hire an experienced manager. Of the three known names, Hale is the only one who has served in a full-time capacity in the majors. He led the Diamondbacks to a 148-176 record during the 2015-16 seasons.
There's no timetable on when the Orioles expect to name their manager.
