The Baltimore Orioles finally awarded manager Buck Showalter and general manager Dan Duquette with well-deserved contract extensions, assuring they will stay with the organization through 2018.
Showalter has now been with the team for 2 1/2 years and is given a lot of credit in changing the culture in the clubhouse to get the Orioles back to respectability. Duquette has been with the team for less than that, but still had an enormous impact on the organization.
It's a well-deserved extension that signals Showalter will be in Baltimore for the long haul, something the Orioles haven't had in a manager in quite some time. It gives the organization some much-needed stability and continuity moving forward. It would only make sense that Dan Duquette also received a contract extension given how well the two have worked together.
Showalter has made it clear on several occasions that he wants to stay in Baltimore for as long as the O's will have him and that he has fallen in love with the city. If the O's are smart, they will have him as long as he will stay.
Showalter has done a terrific job building a relationship with the community and generating interest in baseball in Baltimore again. After so many poor seasons, a once-crazed baseball city had virtually abandoned Camden Yards and was more concerned with the Ravens offseason. That is no longer the case, as people once again will flock to the ballpark.
He has also clearly made a connection with his players, who have bought into his baseball philosophies. While the Orioles didn't lure any big-name free agents to Baltimore in the offseason, word is getting around that Charm City is no longer a place where players go to die. The perception of Baltimore baseball is changing, which should help the team retain players and sign big-name free agents in the future.
While some in the past have criticized Showalter for being far too detail-oriented, the players have nothing but compliments for him. His attention to small details has made a huge difference throughout the organization and in the product on the field. Far too often in past seasons, small things were overlooked and added up to result in a lot of losses. Those days appear to be in the rearview mirror.
It's hardly the first time that Showalter has turned a losing baseball team into a winning one in such short time, yet he has never been able to win a World Series. For one reason or another, he always seems to get shown the door just before his club is ready to win a title. Maybe things will be different with the O's.
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