Moments after Andy MacPhail announced that embattled Orioles manager Dave Trembley would return for 2010, several of the players echoed the thoughts of their president of baseball operations.
Trembley did the best he could in this disaster of a season. And next year's team has to be better, for his sake and theirs.
"I like it. He has been put in a tough situation with injuries," right fielder Nick Markakis said of the decision to pick up Trembley's option. "This is the most young guys we have had come up at one time in a while. He has managed them well. Protected them well. Did his job. And next year, we will try to make the team better and go from there."
Trembley will return for his third full season, brandishing the third-worst winning percentage for a manager in club history.
But MacPhail said Trembley's tenure has been viewed by how he has dealt with the young players who are considered the foundation for the future. And that evaluation makes sense to the players.
"They did not look at this as a win-loss type of decision, for better or for worse, that's not the way they viewed it," starter Jeremy Guthrie said.
"I think the way they viewed it was that Dave was working hard in the same direction, and he understands the plan here that is going on and the progress we have made. Obviously, the record doesn't indicate it, but we have taken steps."
Guthrie said he wasn't surprised that Trembley was retained, despite the club flirting with the third 100-loss season in franchise history and a recent stumble in which the Orioles lost 13 consecutive games before Thursday's win at Tampa Bay.
"I guess in my mind, I didn't anticipate anything different than that," Guthrie said. "From what I have been hearing for the past month, he was expected to come back."
Many pundits, however, did not expect Trembley to survive the continual losing. And MacPhail made a point Friday that next year, the club's record will be a factor in whether Trembley remains at the helm. Trembley's contract now expires at the end of next year, and no option for 2011 has been added.
"Now, in fairness to Dave and his staff and the players, things shift a little bit here," MacPhail said. "We're going to help you as much as we can, but we've gone through the very toughest part. Now I think it's important that we show our fans some meaningful improvement in the standings."
