More than two years after he was given his long-awaited opportunity to manage in the major leagues, Dave Trembley is still guiding the Orioles amid the perception that he's simply holding down the job for somebody else.
Trembley rid himself of the "interim" tag during the 2007 season on the same day the Orioles suffered one of the most humiliating losses in team sports history, a 30-3 clobbering at the hands of the Texas Rangers. Still, the notion that he's a transitional manager, in charge until the Orioles are ready to emerge from the rebuilding process and become a playoff contender, has never quite left. When the time is right, the team will be turned over to a manager with a bigger name and a better big league resume, or so the perception goes.
"I'm the holding tank, I'm here until it gets real good. I've heard all that stuff," Trembley said. "I don't think I work for people like that. I don't think I would be treated like that because I've never treated how I do this in that way. To me, that's kind of a half-hearted approach from all angles. I think you hire the best guy available for the environment and the situation and the circumstances that you have. And I still think I'm that guy. And if it's decided that I'm not, it won't be because I didn't do the best I could."
