Front Office

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. -- It started back in February, when one of the Orioles' new relievers struck up a conversation with a team leader before the second full-squad workout of the spring. Jamie Walker, a self-proclaimed redneck with a thick Southern drawl, had never spoken to Miguel Tejada, the Spanish-speaking shortstop whose English remains a work in progress. Soaking in adjacent whirlpools in the cozy clubhouse at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, the Tennessee-born pitcher, who went to the World Series last season with the Detroit Tigers, and the Dominican shortstop, who yearns to get back to the playoffs, found a common ground.

Nine games under .500. A stretch of nine straight losing seasons that is primed to extend to a decade. Last place in the American League East. A roster stocked with under-performing and high-priced veterans. The situation might scream for an overhaul. But as top Orioles executives sift through a season that has gone horribly wrong, they vow to stay the course, sticking to the plan that was supposed to lift the organization back to prominence but has yet to yield such results. With the trade deadline a little more than six weeks away, there are no plans for a drastic face-lift of the roster, club executives Mike Flanagan and Jim Duquette said this week.

Unsure and uncomfortable in his new role with the Orioles, vice president Jim Duquette resigned yesterday, the first of what could be several moves that will determine the makeup of Andy MacPhail's front office. Duquette, who was hired after the 2005 season to work in tandem with executive vice president Mike Flanagan and had one year remaining on his contract, reached the decision after a meeting with MacPhail earlier this week. MacPhail, the Orioles' president of baseball operations, informed Duquette he planned to bring in another executive to serve as his top aide.

It's hard to believe that the 2007 baseball season is almost upon us. Seems like only a week or so ago, I was in Florida watching the Super Bowl, but that's probably just because time seems to pass faster as you get older. The Orioles open pitcher and catcher workouts Thursday at their Fort Lauderdale, Fla., training facility, which should be pretty interesting now that they actually have enough capable pitchers to occupy all the practice mounds. I know this because I have been keeping careful count and there are four new middle relievers who don't look anything like Steve Kline or Mike DeJean.

Ousted Orioles general manager Frank Wren yesterday expressed "a sense of relief and also a sense of sadness" over his Thursday firing because of the unfinished business and the organizational camaraderie left behind."

FROSTBURG -- "I used to say it was pretty difficult to get fired around here," an ex-employee of the Washington Redskins said with a rueful grin recently.It's gotten a lot easier for Redskins employees to get fired since communications executive Daniel Snyder bought the team recently for $800 million.Snyder has swept through the Redskins' offices like a hurricane, firing about 25 employees from the general manager to the stadium director to the public relations director.You need a roster to keep up with who's who in the Redskins' front office.

The perpetual volatility of the Orioles' front office situation could create a problem for the search committee that will interview candidates to replace fired general manager Frank Wren.The line of quality applicants may not be very long.This will be the third time in less than five years that owner Peter Angelos has changed general managers. It should be obvious by now that it is not a typical general manager job and it certainly is not a tenured position."I'm not really sure what the job is that they're trying to fill," said Boston Red Sox assistant general manager Mike Port, who interviewed for the Orioles' job four years ago and currently is a candidate for the GM opening in Seattle.

The Ravens interviewed former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Emmitt Thomas yesterday and also were one of three teams granted permission from Green Bay to talk with Packers coach Mike Holmgren.Meanwhile, Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Jim Haslett is expected to arrive in Baltimore to meet with members of the Ravens' front office staff tomorrow. He is spending today in Seattle interviewing with the Seahawks.Thomas, 55, was at the team's Owings Mills training camp before 9 a.m. yesterday.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Matt Riley makes his much-anticipated major-league debut tonight against the Minnesota Twins. Played between two teams a combined 35 games under .500, the game will be witnessed by fewer than 10,000 fans within the cavernous Metrodome but scrutinized to an exponential degree by virtually every member of the Orioles' front office.The precocious, left-handed Riley -- 20 years, 39 days old -- becomes the youngest Orioles pitcher to make a start since Mike Adamson appeared July 1, 1967, at 19 years, 291 days.

Now, it's Ernie Accorsi moving to center stage, there in the middle of the spotlight. Not to dance, sing, blow a trumpet or otherwise entertain, but to perform in a more pressurized and specialized capacity. He has assumed control as general manager of one of the high-profile and most demanding of all sports franchises -- the New York Giants. He's fully equipped to handle what's required but, to be forewarned, it won't be easy.The Giants under George Young, the general manager who departs for a position as the senior vice president of football operations in the NFL office, established an almost 20-year reputation for success that promises to be difficult to replicate.

WASHINGTON - -Employed by an organization with a tenuous infrastructure and in charge of a crumbling team, Manny Acta, in the end, ran out of support both from those above him and below him. The team he managed couldn't win. The team that hired him 2 1/2 seasons ago finally lost the willingness to keep waiting. Though the Washington Nationals crave stability right now as badly as they crave some victories, the team decided late Sunday night to fire Acta, sacrificing the short-term stability in hopes of sparking a competent second half.

The Orioles have reached the mathematical halfway marker in this transitional 2009 season, and we've learned as much about ourselves as we have about this maddening team. We've learned that we want to be patient but aren't really equipped for that after 11 straight losing seasons. We've learned that Andy MacPhail is a stubborn individual, which we like a lot sometimes and sometimes we don't. We've learned that Dave Trembley is a nice guy who's probably going to finish last again this year, and we want to both blame him and exonerate him at the same time.

Brad Bergesen probably should've been with the big league team since Day One, but he finally took the mound wearing an Orioles uniform Tuesday night. His first inning as a major leaguer consisted of a couple of groundouts followed by a 12-pitch duel with Carlos Quentin. The White Sox left fielder finally went down whiffing on a slider, and the rookie pitcher shouted into his glove, hopped over the first base line and made his way to the dugout. Bergesen went on to pick up the win in the Orioles' 10-3 victory, and it was no surprise he received a standing ovation when he left in the sixth inning.

There's hardly any reason to complain about the Orioles one week into the season, and there will be one fewer reason than usual for the coming week. Finally, by popular demand (to put it very mildly), the team will wear the name of your city across its chest on the road, starting Monday night in Texas. One slight problem with a very happy start to this season: The regional rivalry that held so much promise five years ago is going nowhere, fast. The Washington Nationals are not holding up their end of the bargain.

A little more than a week after losing one of his top executives, Orioles president Andy MacPhail worked fast to fill the vacancy, announcing the hiring yesterday of former Cincinnati Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky. Krivsky was named special assistant to the president of baseball operations, taking over many of the responsibilities that were performed by Scott Proefrock, who took a job with the Philadelphia Phillies last week. "It's rare that you get somebody like Wayne who really is talented in all baseball areas," MacPhail said yesterday.

The question looms over Camden Yards like the big, antiseptic convention hotel that has blocked out the best part of the Baltimore skyline: What will Andy do now? The Orioles' two-week downturn heading into the All-Star break has given club president Andy MacPhail new license to steer the team in the direction he originally intended, but that question oversimplifies the situation that faces the front office as the O's open the titular second half of the season against the Detroit Tigers tonight at Oriole Park.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-- --Orioles president Andy MacPhail has pointed the franchise toward the future with a large infusion of young on-field talent, so why should anyone be surprised that his new director of baseball operations is a twentysomething Ivy Leaguer with relatively little experience in baseball operations? Matt Klentak is 27 years old and has spent the past four years working behind the scenes in Major League Baseball's Labor Relations Department. It's fairly obvious from his Dartmouth pedigree and his central office experience that he's a sharp, young numbers guy with both feet on the front office fast track, but the choice might say as much about MacPhail as it does about his new protege.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Seeking to add a young mind and a fresh perspective to the Orioles' front office, Andy MacPhail announced yesterday that he has hired Matt Klentak as director of baseball operations. Klentak, 27, who spent the past four years working in Major League Baseball's Labor Relations Department, will assist MacPhail, the Orioles' president of baseball operations, with scouting, player development, contract negotiations and the overall construction of the team's major league roster.

I'm told that Daniel Cabrera is throwing his changeup a lot in the Dominican Winter League, which is a good thing. Cabrera shied away from his off-speed stuff last season because he still lacked confidence in it. But he won't win consistently at this level without it, which he now realizes. I had someone close to Cabrera tell me that the right-hander will have a "different approach" this year and should be more focused. Cabrera never really meshed with former pitching coach Leo Mazzone, though Mazzone remained supportive of him. New pitching coach Rick Kranitz might want to avoid tinkering too much with Cabrera's mechanics once the season starts.

Give Brian Roberts credit for one thing. It took him only four days to process the revelations in the Mitchell Report and come out with a heartfelt apology for his fleeting experimentation with anabolic steroids. Even the Orioles moved quickly to e-mail an apology to season ticket-holders Monday after their renewal mailers failed to mention a modest hike in the price of some seats. It is the holiday season, which is a time for celebration and - now more than ever - the spirit of forgiveness, but you generally don't get forgiveness unless you ask for it. That's why Roberts made the right decision to throw himself on the mercy of Baltimore sports fans while so many others have tried to get by on lame excuses or tortured silence.