Front Office

  WWE wasted no time in allowing John Cena and Brock Lesnar to get physical -- and the result was magic. For the past year, Cena and The Rock were kept apart, competing on the microphone rather than in the ring. WWE appears set to go a completely different direction with Cena's newest foe. After General Manager John Laurinaitis introduced Lesnar with a glowing welcome, the former UFC champion took to the mic. But before long, Cena would emerge. And in uncharacteristic fashion, Cena let his actions speak louder than his words, slapping Lesnar.

  WWE wasted no time in allowing John Cena and Brock Lesnar to get physical -- and the result was magic. For the past year, Cena and The Rock were kept apart, competing on the microphone rather than in the ring. WWE appears set to go a completely different direction with Cena's newest foe. After General Manager John Laurinaitis introduced Lesnar with a glowing welcome, the former UFC champion took to the mic. But before long, Cena would emerge. And in uncharacteristic fashion, Cena let his actions speak louder than his words, slapping Lesnar.

Last week, Ravens coach John Harbaugh acknowledged that offensive coordinator Cam Cameron would be back with the Ravens next season. Bisciotti and Newsome also supported Cameron on Wednesday, though Newsome declined to say whether Cameron's contract was a one-year deal or longer. “I always look at a body of work,” Newsome said. “Are we headed in the right direction with this offense? And Steve has some unbelievable numbers that he just showed me that prove that we are headed in the right direction.

It's like The Drive and The Fumble all over again, rolled into one. When news broke late Friday that the Washington Redskins had obtained the No. 2 pick in April's NFL Draft, my thoughts turned to my hometown Cleveland Browns and another opportunity lost. Let's call this The Trade. Holding the No. 4 and No. 22 picks in the first round, I thought there was no way they could let another team complete a trade with the St. Louis Rams for the No. 2 pick and presumably Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. But these are the Browns we're talking about.

Five weeks after the Baltimore Mariners claimed their first American Indoor Football Association championship, the future of the team appears in limbo after its entire front office resigned Friday amid allegations that a member of its ownership group embezzled $1.6 million from a Laurel mechanical engineering firm. Dwayne Wells, 50, was charged with wire fraud for allegedly embezzling the money from his firm, Ryco Associates, then using $109,500 of it to purchase a stake in the Mariners, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

New Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette has begun the reconstruction of his front office, announcing the hiring of a new amateur scouting director Monday while re-assigning pro scouting director Lee MacPhail IV, one of the top lieutenants in the club's previous regime. Long-time scout Gary Rajsich, who was most recently the Toronto Blue Jays professional crosschecker and spent years with Duquette in Boston, was officially named to replace Joe Jordan, who left the Orioles' amateur scouting post in October to join the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Orioles announced Friday that the director of international operations and the director of player development will switch roles, in a front office shuffle expected to be made official since earlier this week. David Stockstill, who has been with the the organization's minor league staff for 16 years, will oversee operations internationally, including in Asia and Latin America. John Stockstill, who has been with the Orioles for five years and with the Chicago Cubs as a front office executive before that, will run the team's player development.

The Orioles have taken another preliminary step in their search for the new executive who will replace Andy MacPhail as head of baseball operations. Manager Buck Showalter flew to Baltimore on Wednesday and met with owner Peter Angelos and other front office personnel to discuss possible candidates for the position. Now, club officials must get permission from the current employers of some of those candidates before setting up formal interviews. That process almost certainly is under way. The club is believed to be working from a list that includes Arizona Diamondbacks senior vice president for scouting and player development Jerry DiPoto, Texas Rangers assistant general manager Thad Levine, Toronto Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava, Florida Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings, Los Angeles Dodgers assistant GM De Jon Watson, Detroit Tigers assistant GM Al Avila, Los Angeles Angels executive and former GM Tony Reagins and Dodgers assistant GM Logan White.

New jobs in front office Phil Savage New title: Director of player personnel Previous title: Director of college scouting Age: 37 Background: Twelve years in the NFL, all with Art Modell's franchise. Played football and baseball at the University of the South (Sewanee, Tenn.) and earned a B.A. in English. Has a master's degree in physical education from the University of Alabama. Born in Mobile, Ala. Responsibilities: Oversees pro and college departments. Will continue involvement with draft as well as analyze professional free agents.

The briefing was held at Memorial Stadium. An orange-and-white Baltimore Orioles banner was draped on the wall. The setting, it seemed, was perfect for Frank Robinson to stroll in and announce happily that, after much thought, he had decided to rejoin the Orioles in a front-office slot of one sort or another.It still might happen. But it didn't yesterday.Instead, after meeting for about an hour with team president Larry Lucchino and general manager Roland Hemond, Robinson announced that he wanted to weigh the Orioles' offer further.

Last week, Ravens coach John Harbaugh acknowledged that offensive coordinator Cam Cameron would be back with the Ravens next season. Bisciotti and Newsome also supported Cameron on Wednesday, though Newsome declined to say whether Cameron's contract was a one-year deal or longer. “I always look at a body of work,” Newsome said. “Are we headed in the right direction with this offense? And Steve has some unbelievable numbers that he just showed me that prove that we are headed in the right direction.

The Orioles announced several changes to the front office staff Thursday, including the hiring of long-time Orioles outfielder Brady Anderson as a special assistant to executive vice president Dan Duquette. Anderson, 48, was a three-time all-star in his 15-season career as a big-league outfielder, which included 14 years with the Orioles. Anderson worked the past two years in an informal, ad hoc capacity helping with the conditioning and development of players such as Nolan Reimold and Brian Matusz.

New Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette has begun the reconstruction of his front office, announcing the hiring of a new amateur scouting director Monday while re-assigning pro scouting director Lee MacPhail IV, one of the top lieutenants in the club's previous regime. Long-time scout Gary Rajsich, who was most recently the Toronto Blue Jays professional crosschecker and spent years with Duquette in Boston, was officially named to replace Joe Jordan, who left the Orioles' amateur scouting post in October to join the Philadelphia Phillies.

Nationals Johnson to return as manager next season The Nationals formally announced Davey Johnson as their manager for the 2012 season Monday, exercising an option in his contract and continuing a tenure that began last season amid upheaval and concluded with one of the most promising stretches since baseball returned to Washington. "It's such a great organization, such a great bunch of kids," said Johnson, who played for the Orioles and managed them to their most recent playoff appearances in 1996 and 1997.

The Orioles have taken another preliminary step in their search for the new executive who will replace Andy MacPhail as head of baseball operations. Manager Buck Showalter flew to Baltimore on Wednesday and met with owner Peter Angelos and other front office personnel to discuss possible candidates for the position. Now, club officials must get permission from the current employers of some of those candidates before setting up formal interviews. That process almost certainly is under way. The club is believed to be working from a list that includes Arizona Diamondbacks senior vice president for scouting and player development Jerry DiPoto, Texas Rangers assistant general manager Thad Levine, Toronto Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava, Florida Marlins assistant GM Dan Jennings, Los Angeles Dodgers assistant GM De Jon Watson, Detroit Tigers assistant GM Al Avila, Los Angeles Angels executive and former GM Tony Reagins and Dodgers assistant GM Logan White.

For a guy who apparently is not going to move into the general manager's office this fall, Buck Showalter already is acting a lot like a general manager. He spent part of the past week viewing prospects at the instructional league in Florida, sat down for a dinner conversation to gauge the future of injured second baseman Brian Roberts and has become the main sounding board for owner Peter Angelos. A sources has confirmed to The Baltimore Sun he is not going to take the position, but it's fair to assume that he'll have a big say in who does.

NEW YORK - The two-day, all-out hammering the Orioles just absorbed from the New York Yankees all but begs for an organizational response. Make a trade. Replace someone. Shake things up. At the very least, do something other than stand around saying, "Be patient, it's a long season." Patience should be viewed as a crutch, not a virtue, in the wake of yesterday's especially dismal effort, which included three early errors, five unearned runs and a fourth-inning knockout - the ugly markings of a slumping team hitting bottom.

News item: The Ravens have soundly beaten both teams from last year's AFC title game and appear to have the scariest defense in the league, but somehow are only fifth in this week's ESPN power rankings. My take: You could throw the first four teams after the No. 1 Packers in a hat, but the Ravens have been more dominant than the No. 3 Patriots and certainly deserve to be ranked ahead of the Detroit Lions until they play a few more good teams. Related News item: The Ravens got one of the earliest byes this year and will be off this weekend after Sunday night's uplifting victory over the New York Jets.

Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds apparently will break his string of three straight seasons with 200 strikeouts or more, but he said Tuesday that he has made no conscious effort to avoid that dubious plateau. "I don't ever think about that," he said. "I've done it three times, so it doesn't ever cross my mind as long as I feel I am doing what I should be doing at the plate. " Reynolds entered Tuesday night's game with 192 strikeouts, and he joked beforehand that it was too early to assume that he wouldn't get eight strikeouts in the final two games of the season.