Buck interview from WBAL

[wildcard]

Buck:  We have to determine  if you are going to have Hunter Harvey do what we did with Dylan Bundy.   We have see if we are going to convert a reliever to a starter.  (paraphased)

It will be tough to take a Rule 5 guy because we will already have Santander on the team.

http://www.wbal.com/article/272254/6/orioles-manager-buck-showalter-talks-to-brett-hollander

[Frobby]

Thanks for picking this up.     We had contractual reasons why we had to rush Bundy.    I’m totally against doing this with Harvey.

[Luke-OH]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Thanks for picking this up.     We had contractual reasons why we had to rush Bundy.    I’m totally against doing this with Harvey.

Agreed, he should be building up innings in 3-5 inning starts in Frederick and Bowie.  He hasn't thrown his changeup much and I doubt it's MLB ready.  I'm not saying he couldn't be a decent reliever right now, but that sounds terrible for his development.

[Can_of_corn]

6 hours ago, phillyOs119 said:

Agreed, he should be building up innings in 3-5 inning starts in Frederick and Bowie.  He hasn't thrown his changeup much and I doubt it's MLB ready.  I'm not saying he couldn't be a decent reliever right now, but that sounds terrible for his development.

But if you are only under contract for 2018 why should you care about his development past that?

[Luke-OH]

12 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

But if you are only under contract for 2018 why should you care about his development past that?

Of course not, but that’s why a manager shouldn’t have Showalter’s level of influence on personnel and development.

[Can_of_corn]

11 minutes ago, phillyOs119 said:

Of course not, but that’s why a manager shouldn’t have Showalter’s level of influence on personnel and development.

But the GM is in the same boat.

[24fps]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

But if you are only under contract for 2018 why should you care about his development past that?

Why would Showalter and Duquette think that taking a purely self-serving approach to using organizational assets would go unnoticed by prospective future employers?

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, 24fps said:

Why would Showalter and Duquette think that taking a purely self-serving approach to using organizational assets would go unnoticed by prospective future employers?

First off who says Buck is even going to have another job working for teams?  According to his own statements he doesn't want to manage another team after the Orioles and he had a nice career in front of the camera I'm sure he could go back to.

Secondly why should they take a hit if this course of action also follows the wishes of ownership?  Ownership is pretty clearly more concerned with Now than Tomorrow.

[Aglets]

13 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

First off who says Buck is even going to have another job working for teams?  According to his own statements he doesn't want to manage another team after the Orioles and he had a nice career in front of the camera I'm sure he could go back to.

Secondly why should they take a hit if this course of action also follows the wishes of ownership?  Ownership is pretty clearly more concerned with Now than Tomorrow.

Yea on the topic of "going for it in 2018"  I think ownership, Duquette, and Buck are all on the same page.  I imagine a good portion of the players (AJ has spoken about this at least) also agree.  So it's not like Dan can really be criticized for going rogue.

[24fps]

7 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

First off who says Buck is even going to have another job working for teams?  According to his own statements he doesn't want to manage another team after the Orioles and he had a nice career in front of the camera I'm sure he could go back to.

Secondly why should they take a hit if this course of action also follows the wishes of ownership?  Ownership is pretty clearly more concerned with Now than Tomorrow.

If this course of action also follows the wishes of ownership, then only being under contract for 2018 is irrelevant.  

Dan clearly wants to work after 2018 even if Buck doesn't and the Angelos' will own the Orioles after 2018 unless Buck is privy to the best-kept secret in MLB history.  Buck simply isn't in any position to unilaterally use Harvey whether Harvey's ready or not.  

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, 24fps said:

If this course of action also follows the wishes of ownership, then only being under contract for 2018 is irrelevant.  

Dan clearly wants to work after 2018 even if Buck doesn't and the Angelos' will own the Orioles after 2018 unless Buck is privy to the best-kept secret in MLB history.  Buck simply isn't in any position to unilaterally use Harvey whether Harvey's ready or not.  

Not really since if Dan was burdened with thinking of the long term health of the franchise his risk-reward analysis might very well be different.  I'm certainly not suggesting that ownership is calling Dan up and telling him to rush Harvey.

I also agree that Buck can't unilaterally use Harvey, that would be why I mentioned Dan in the first place.

[24fps]

6 minutes ago, birdwatcher55 said:

FWIW, Cafardo keeps mentioning Buck to Phils rumor.

Ironic in light of Andy MacPhail's reputed preference for Eric Wedge instead of Showalter in 2010.

[spiritof66]

39 minutes ago, 24fps said:

If this course of action also follows the wishes of ownership, then only being under contract for 2018 is irrelevant.  

Dan clearly wants to work after 2018 even if Buck doesn't and the Angelos' will own the Orioles after 2018 unless Buck is privy to the best-kept secret in MLB history.  Buck simply isn't in any position to unilaterally use Harvey whether Harvey's ready or not.  

I'm with this. It's common for managers to be on short contracts or to be in jeopardy of being fired mid-contract, and I don't think Buck's contract status should, or will, affect whom he wants on the roster, which guys he plays, or how he manages -- just as I doubt Girardi was affected this year by the upcoming end of his contract. And I'm not sure how you could tell. With the Orioles, Buck consistently has had a strong tendency to play veterans who he views as "his guys,"  which takes you to pretty much the same place as a "win now approach.

While I know others disagree, I don't think Duquette has been or will be affected much, if at all, by his contract status. It's clear to me that the "win before the window closes" strategy and the key decisions that it has driven --  like keeping Manny without trying to extend him, not selling veterans at the deadline this year, the Davis contract (and Trumbo 's and O'Day's to a lesser degree), and not investing in an international pipeline -- have come from the owner. (How Brady fits into this, what strategy he would pursue if it were up to him, and what if any input he has remain mysterious to me. My guess is that he does whatever it takes to ingratiate himself with ownership, but that's just an impression.) 

Let's see how Harvey does and  where the Orioles are later in the season. About the only prediction about the 2018 Orioles I'm comfortable with is that the team will be short of quality starting pitching. Very short. If they somehow manage to stay in contention and it looks like Harvey could help with some 4-6 inning starts, by all means bring him up. Otherwise, forget it.

BTW, I'm pretty confident that, at least at this point, there's nothing to the rumors about Buck and the Phillies beyond a few writers who are looking for something to talk about and have noted the  relationship Buck has had with MacPhail and Klentak. From what I've read, a guy with Buck's profile is not what they're looking for in Philadelphia. (Some day I've got to be right about one of these things.)

[webbrick2010]

For every year the Buck/DD regime continues add 3 years to the Orioles path back to relevancy.

I keep thinking there is no more damage that can be done, and than I read that they are considering taking their number one pitching prospect and pitching him in the majors for another futile wild card run.

[clapdiddy]

10 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

For every year the Buck/DD regime continues add 3 years to the Orioles path back to relevancy.

I keep thinking there is no more damage that can be done, and than I read that they are considering taking their number one pitching prospect and pitching him in the majors for another futile wild card run.

Though I don't agree with your tone, I do agree that the current regime has the chance to go "all in" for this season.   I could see them taking the budding farm system to add a couple of players to the current team.     I just think we have too many holes to plug for us to go "all in".   

I wouldn't be surprised to see this team win 85 games next year...but a repeat of this season is not out of the question.   That said, I don't think our "core" competes with the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Astros, etc.    These teams have young, established players that will be around for quite a while.   If the end goal is to win the World Series, we'll either need to have some major deals this offseason, or some serious bad luck from other teams.   I don't think the Orioles are remotely close to competing with the better teams in baseball.