More minors, Hyde and Mancini

The Orioles haven't made any decisions regarding their minor league staffs with so much other work to be done, including the hiring of major league coaches to pair with new manager Brandon Hyde.

Triple-A Norfolk doesn't have a manager after the Orioles decided to part ways with Ron Johnson. They could promote from within, perhaps elevating Gary Kendall from Double-A Bowie, or seek an outside hire.

Pitching coach Mike Griffin remains under contract and could stay with the Tides or be reassigned, depending on what's done with Alan Mills, who's going to serve as a pitching coach with one of the affiliates.

The shuffling could extend down to Single-A Frederick, which must replace pitching coach Blaine Beatty. Maybe it involves Bowie pitching coach Kennie Steenstra. Or maybe not.

How's that for narrowing it down?

Steenstra could join Kendall at Norfolk if the latter is promoted, with Griffin moving down to Frederick and Mills returning to Bowie.

Former Orioles assistant hitting coach Howie Clark also will land a job in the minors. The group of hitting coaches last year included Butch Davis at Norfolk, Keith Bodie at Bowie, Kyle Moore at Frederick, Bobby Rose at Single- A Delmarva, Tim Raines Jr. at short-season Single-A Aberdeen and Milt May with the Gulf Coast League team.

Raines has resigned after two seasons with the IronBirds, so there's another opening that must be filled.

The changes in the minors were expected to be minimal with Brian Graham handling contract renewals and offers, but he was fired as director of player development with one year remaining on his own contract. Everyone and everything is on hold while Hyde gets settled and the club decides on Graham's replacement.

Scott McGregor remains in the organization after completing his seventh season as pitching rehabilitation coordinator.

Former Orioles third base coach Bobby Dickerson could have stayed in the organization as manager with one of the affiliates, but again, Graham's departure crinkles the plans.

Graham basically pulled double duty as director of player development and field coordinator. Some of his finest work came in spring training while organizing assignments and workouts at the minor league complex at Twin Lakes Park, getting around 170 players on the fields and having the operation run smoothly with everyone receiving the proper instruction. Managers, coaches and other staff members raved about him.

Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias is burning the candle at both ends before the holidays.

"We need to get to work immediately on filling out the coaching staff, but simultaneously we have, really, all manner of baseball operations projects going on," Elias said at Hyde's press conference. "We've got meetings scheduled throughout the week with every member of the front office, and these are things that, frankly, have been slowed down a little bit because of the breadth and depth of our managerial search and how important it was to get the right person in this chair.

"Having him here is really going to allow me to turn my attention toward other areas of baseball operations in a more direct and focused way, so I'm looking forward to that."

* Hyde knows that his brief tenure as Joe Maddon's bench coach in Chicago fueled the interest in him that led to interviews with five teams before he took the Orioles job.

What did Hyde learn from Maddon, who guided the Cubs through a rebuild and hoisted the World Series trophy in 2016?

"I'm a big Joe Maddon fan. I love Joe Maddon. He's treated me great," Hyde said.

"What I've learned the most from him? I think consistency in how he is on a daily basis. How positive he is. I told people we could lose five in a row and he's the same guy. We win five in a row, we win a playoff game, he's the same guy. That just created a sense of calmness throughout our team. And just always upbeat. In the peaks and valleys game that we're in for six months of good times and bad times, his consistency was unbelievable. That's just the tip of the iceberg of all the things that I've learned from him.

"That's what I immediately found out my first year there with him is, this guy's so consistent, it's incredible."

* With the roster stripped of so many veterans during the teardown, the Orioles may have to find leadership from younger, less experienced players. A couple of seasons and a little bit of success could go a long way.

Trey Mancini is ready to take on more of the responsibility.

"That's how life works. Sometimes, you're just thrown into the fire, pretty much," he said.

"I was lucky enough to come on the team at the end of '16, and the veteran leadership and the veteran presence there was so incredible and I was shown how to do things the right way, how to guide younger guys, and I feel like I'm really well equipped now to do that.

"We're definitely going to be a much, much younger team (next) year and I've got to be one of the guys to help younger guys if they're slumping or have any questions about anything maybe related to the players union or anything. I'm trying to educate myself better on a lot of those things, too. I'm definitely preparing myself for that role."

Shameless plug alert: Hyde will be tonight's guest on the "Hot Stove Show," airing from 6-7 p.m. on 105.7 The Fan, and at its new location at Bunzzz Sports Bar and Grill at 200 E. Pratt St. in Baltimore.