What should the Orioles look for in a new GM and manager?

The rebuilding of the Orioles moved from the clubhouse to the dugout and front office yesterday with the news - made official last night - that Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter will not return for the 2019 season.

The Orioles' baseball operations will have a new leader, new voice and a new vision at some point this offseason. The team's press release last night stated this:

"The club will hire an executive from outside of the organization to lead the Baseball Operations department. Once in place, this individual will have the final determination on all baseball matters that he or she believes will make the Orioles successful on the field, entertaining to fans, and impactful in the community."

Here is one hope that the Orioles find a person that blends old-school smarts and savvy with new-school concepts, including analytics. Someone with some knowledge of international scouting. Someone that brings new energy and ideas. If they find the next youthful Ivy League-type general manager like David Stearns of the Milwaukee Brewers, who was hired at 30, that works for me.

The new head of baseball operations will obviously hire the new manager. Because of that, the hope - and, in fact, the assumption - is the two men will be on the same page from Day One. No more picking out someone in the front office and knowing that they are a "Buck guy" or a "Dan guy." Time for all of them to be Orioles guys or gals. Time for everyone working for the Orioles to be on the same page, pulling on the same rope and never undermining anyone else. Or even considering such.

As a native of Baltimore County and someone who grew up as a kid loving the Orioles, seeing some of the discord I saw behind the scenes in recent years was troubling. I'll leave it at that and move on. Time for a new day and a better day.

As the Orioles begin life after Showalter, what should they look for in the next skipper?

Obviously, it will need to be someone that either has experience and success in working with young players or someone the organization believes will have such success.

It will need to be someone unfailingly positive. Someone that can remain upbeat when the losses pile up again and someone that somehow can keep the young players' confidence up as both they and the team struggle.

Oh, is that all?

Yeah. Exactly. It is going to be tough. Someone that won't look past correctable mistakes, but will keep it positive enough that young players believe in themselves. Part sports psychologist, part strategist, part great communicator, handles the media well and does it all at the same time.

Figures out which players he needs to push, which he may need to call out privately or even publicly and which he needs to just put an arm around. Which he just needs to put in the lineup and just let 'em go. Which are his leaders that will handle some issues before they even get to his office.

Does the new manager need major league experience as a skipper? Not for me. Aaron Boone left broadcasting and managed the Yankees to 100 wins. In that tough market where every move he makes draws intense scrutiny. If he did so, can others do something similar? Why not.

I floated the name Mark DeRosa. And I am simply floating a name here, not passing on a name that I know will be under consideration. I don't know. And I don't know DeRosa. But from his MLB Network work, he seems like someone that has tremendous passion, could relate well to vets and rookies alike, and embraces analytics. He has vast knowledge of the game and could be that upbeat guy to deal with a clubhouse full of young players as the team rebuilds and the losing presumably continues for some time.

There are a lot of good people working right now for the Orioles. Whoever comes in may take a look around and decide some of them or even that many of them are worth keeping on. That would be great. But the new hire also needs to be able to bring on new people. A total housecleaning may not be needed, but at the same time, if that decision is made, then we will see more change coming.

Duquette and Showalter did a lot of good things for the organization and both men dearly cared about winning. So do a lot of other good people it has been my pleasure to cover, report on and get to know in the Orioles organization.

But what we've seen since September 2017 has been a team going backward fast. One that was historically bad this year. The fallout has been vast.

Thank you, Buck. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/3SQPWH4gHC

-- Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) October 4, 2018

Thank you, Dan. #Birdland pic.twitter.com/s6rX3rPllx

-- Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) October 4, 2018