Still waiting and wondering

Maybe this will be the day that someone returns a phone call, text message or e-mail. Well, someone besides the electrician who's stopping by my house to check on my smoke detectors. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and concerns. They were greatly appreciated. Too bad this electrician isn't a possibility to serve on manager Buck Showalter's coaching staff. The guy spoke to me twice yesterday. Rather than talk about a coach being hired, we can eliminate Brian Butterfield, who's staying in Toronto. Butterfield was a serious candidate to replace Gary Allenson because of his previous ties to Showalter. Allenson isn't assured of returning, but one major obstacle has been removed. No hard feelings for Butterfield, who interviewed for the managerial job and lost out to former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. Back in Baltimore, we continue to wait because, let's face it, nothing gets done quickly around here. Butterfield is one of the game's more highly respected infield coaches. The Orioles need one of those after Juan Samuel left, which leads me back to Mike Bordick. He'd fill that role perfectly, as long as he's willing to travel and be away from his family for extended periods. One of the main reason's that he accepted a job as roving minor league instructor was because the Orioles have so many in-state affiliates, and you can get to Norfolk by car. He still has lots of quality time at home. "Lost In Mount Vernon" raised an interesting question yesterday about pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who's a candidate to be reunited with Joe Girardi. If you're Kranitz and you have your choice of jobs, would you prefer to stay in Baltimore and continue working with the young starters, or does a gig in New York or Boston look more appealing? Break down Jake Arrieta's side session or break CC Sabathia's habit of binging between starts. It's a tough call. Actually, there's a special challenge in repairing a high-priced arm that's malfunctioning like one of my smoke detectors. The job entails more than strolling to the mound and telling Mariano Rivera, "Hey, try throwing the cutter."