The waiting is the hardest part

There's nothing like waking up to rain again, especially on a Monday. Makes you want to jump out of bed and get the day started early. I actually need that early start because I can't be away from my laptop as we approach the afternoon hours. I might have some extra work to do. Your guess is as good as mine. For the record, Lebron James doesn't care. Says it doesn't impact him one way or the other. All I ask is you spare me the posts that begin with, "I'm hearing a rumor..." We know how that usually turns out. Also, "Are you hearing anything about..." should be packed in a crate and shipped to the Smithsonian. We knew that today's off-day following a series loss in D.C. would bring heightened speculation about manager Dave Trembley's job status. He was especially irritable after yesterday's walk-off heartbreaker, but I'm not sure how much of his dark mood was attributed to him sensing that the end is near and how much was due to losing another game and another closer. For all I know, he went home, poured himself a glass of red wine, put his feet up and was fine. Or he might have tossed and turned all night - without even making it to bed. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail wasn't seen in D.C. all weekend. Usually, a high-ranking official will shadow the manager in the days before the guillotine comes down. I'm not sure how to read that, either. MacPhail could be preoccupied with finding enough healthy relievers to fill out the bullpen. Good luck. There's no obvious candidate to replace Trembley on the coaching staff or higher up in the organization. No "special assistant" in the front office who just happens to be a former manager. No bench coach or third base coach who just happens to be a former manager. I've heard people suggest Triple-A manager Gary Allenson, and I usually point out that he didn't even get a courtesy interview during one managerial search - causing him to leave the organization for a year - and he was bypassed for the bench coach job while the Orioles touted Jeff Datz as someone who could work with catcher Matt Wieters. Allenson is an ex-major league catcher with coaching experience at this level. Hello? He's obviously a valued member of the organization or he wouldn't be in it. He's part of the staff every spring training. But it certainly would be a sharp turn in his career path. So here we are, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I have a sneaker suspicion (see what I did there?) that it's going to be a long day. But at least it's raining.