Baltimore Orioles: Looking at the coaching openings in Baltimore

The Baltimore Orioles have plenty of work left to do before spring training starts, specifically filling out the majority of their coaching staff

Brandon Hyde and the Baltimore Orioles need to fill out the remainder of the coaching staff before the 2019 season begins.

We know for sure that bullpen coach Alan Mills and assistant hitting coach Howie Clark will return, as both were given minor league contracts prior to the release of Brian Graham. Hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh won’t return, as he took a job with the Oklahoma City Dodgers, LA’s Triple-A affiliate.

On Thursday’s edition of the Hot Stove Show on 105.7 The Fan, Hyde told Roch Kubatko that he’d spoken to pitching coach Roger McDowell, bench coach John Russell, first base coach Wayne Kirby, and third base coach Bobby Dickerson about potentially returning to Baltimore.

Dickerson has been with the Orioles since 2010; prior to that, he was a manager in the minor leagues for the Diamondbacks and Cubs. Dickerson is held in high regard in the industry as an infield instructor, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Hyde retain him, especially considering how late we are into the offseason.

Kirby has coached for the Orioles since 2011, serving as an outfield instructor and first base coach. He’s plenty familiar with the players in the system, which is a plus, and he’s beloved by many inside the organization and out. But we know the same about Adam Jones and he isn’t coming back.

Russell managed the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2008-2010 before coming to Baltimore in 2011; he’s served as a third base coach and as a bench coach, working specifically with catchers. He helped Caleb Joseph transition from a bat-first prospect to an above average defensive catcher in the majors, and could potentially help Chance Sisco do the same.

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McDowell has spent the past two seasons as the Orioles pitching coach; he spent ten years with the Braves before joining the Orioles in November of 2016. The Orioles pitching staff was one of the worst in the majors last year and while it’s not exclusively McDowell’s fault, he might take some of the heat for it.

Hyde spoke during Thursday’s interview about the benefits of retaining coaches in the system, stating “I think that does have a lot of value to have people who are familiar with the current roster, with players that are coming through the system”.

Hyde surely has his own guys in mind and he indicated that the Orioles are building a large list of candidates. He also indicated that he and Elias are going to take as much time interviewing and reviewing the candidates as they reasonably can. Hyde understands that the Orioles don’t have unlimited time to make their decisions, but this is important.

All the talk we’ve heard about building a better organization and creating a sustainable player development system in Baltimore is real; the coaches are one of, if not the single most important part of that process. Almost anyone can collect and analyze data; the pool of coaches who can turn that data into useful information and teach their players how to use it is much smaller.

The four guys above will be on the list of candidates; Hyde and Elias will speak to them about their potential roles on the 2019 roster. Whether or not they’re in Baltimore next year is to be determined. Outside of them, we’re not sure who’s on the list. Hyde stated earlier this week that he isn’t likely going to be able to poach any of his Cubs-guys from Chicago.

Slowly but surely, we’re running short on time until the 2019 season gets under way. We have just 53 days until Orioles’ pitchers and catchers report. That’s less than two months! Baseball! But the Orioles have a lot of work to do before they can get things going.

Considering Hyde’s statements on the Hot Stove Show, and how late we are into the offseason, some of the staff the guys who were here under Showalter could be here in 2019. But seeing as Hyde is in Hawaii on a working vacation this week, it might be a bit before we hear anything official.

The Baltimore Orioles have plenty of work left to do before spring training starts, specifically filling out the majority of their coaching staff

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