Orioles owner Peter Angelos has rearranged the management structure of the team's front office, hiring a two-man decision-making team to run the baseball operation and - he hopes - restore some prestige to an organization tarnished by five consecutive losing seasons.
It is a gutsy play.
Baseball operations director Syd Thrift is out. Former Montreal Expos general manager Jim Beattie and popular former Orioles pitcher, coach and broadcaster Mike Flanagan are in. Angelos envisions a team-oriented braintrust that takes advantage of the strengths of both new executives, without designating either as the clear-cut No. 1 guy.
Flanagan is the Angelos confidante with firsthand knowledge of much of the team's major- and minor-league personnel. Beattie is the baseball operations veteran with the hands-on experience to repair the Orioles' minor-league system and begin a credible rebuilding process.
Sounds too good to be true, but the new arrangement still raises an important question.
Can a front office operate effectively with the kind of shared power structure that Angelos has put into place, or will the Orioles find themselves handicapped by a troublesome case of double vision?
There are plenty of people inside the warehouse who would answer that question with another question: What has the organization got to lose after another in a long series of disappointing seasons and another significant drop in attendance?
Thrift presided over a rebuilding program that succeeded in slashing an inflated payroll and returning the organizational focus to player development, but "The Plan" - as he was so fond of calling it - did not pay off and his management style left many valuable baseball operations employees feeling isolated and unappreciated.
Flanagan and Beattie bring a fresh, new attitude to the warehouse, which should have an immediate impact on front office morale and make it easier for them to enlist the existing staff in a dynamic attempt to recharge the baseball operations department and renew the minor-league system.
"I think it will be a terrific partnership, with the philosophies we have organizationally about the major leagues, minor leagues ... and similar beliefs about how a team should be run," Flanagan said. "His National League background and my American League background, the dynamics of our pasts, I just think it's just been a breath of fresh air to share our views.
"I think the way we'll try to run the organization, there will be decisions made and there will be a gathering of information. It won't be so much one voice as a chiming in of everyone in the organization."
Still, it is an unusual situation. Every other club in the major leagues has a single baseball operations boss. The Orioles, despite Beattie's holding what appears to be a higher title, will have two executives operating as equals.
"I think it's similar to the situation that we had when I got to Montreal," Beattie said. "Bill Stoneman was the vice president, and I was general manager. It worked very well for Bill and myself, and I have no doubt that kind of energy will be replicated here."
Angelos seemed concerned early in the hiring process about Flanagan's lack of front-office experience. The addition of Beattie gives the Orioles two strong executives to replace Thrift at a time when the club needs all of the administrative acumen it can muster to dig out of a five-year rut.
Angelos spent nearly two months ruminating over the proper course that the franchise should take. He interviewed solid candidates from throughout the major leagues and settled on a combination that allowed him the comfort of a favored consultant (Flanagan) and the nuts-and-bolts experience of an accomplished executive (Beattie).
The issue of final authority is really a non-issue, because Angelos always has been the final authority on all major decisions involving the team.
"When we started to talk about how to make this work, we really felt comfortable with the partnership," Beattie said. "I don't think either of us has veto power."
Give Angelos credit for choosing two people known for putting team objectives in front of their personal ambition. Flanagan has spent the past decade doing just about anything the club asked - from instructing minor-league pitchers to providing color commentary on television broadcasts to a pair of stints as major-league pitching coach and a behind-the-scenes consulting role with the owner. Beattie is highly respected in the industry for the way he held the Expos organization together during trying financial times, though his low name recognition with the public is a sign that he has never been a big self-promoter.
When Beattie and Flanagan say that they don't anticipate any problems existing on a relatively equal footing, it's hard not to take them at their word. There will be plenty of credit to go around if they succeed in rejuvenating the franchise.
Jim Beattie
Playing career:
Pitched for Yankees and Mariners from 1978 to 1986, mostly as starter. Had career 52-87 record with 4.17 ERA. Won a game each in American League Championship Series and World Series in 1978. Pitched one-hitter in 1983.
Post-playing career:
Director of player development (in charge of minor-league system) for Mariners from 1989 to 1995. General manager of Expos from 1995 to 2001. Scout for Expos in 2002.
Personal:
Born July 4, 1954. Grew up in Portland, Maine. Married with three children. Graduate of Dartmouth with MBA from University of Washington.
Orioles' new leadership team
Mike Flanagan
Playing career: Spent 17 of his 20 professional seasons in Orioles organization. Had overall major-league record of 167-143 and 3.90 ERA with Orioles and Blue Jays from 1975 to 1992. Posted 141-116 record in 15 major-league seasons with the Orioles. Became reliever upon return to Orioles in 1991. Last Oriole to throw a pitch at Memorial Stadium. No. 3 in all-time games (450) among Orioles pitchers. No. 4 on club's victory list.
Honors:
Cy Young Award in 1979. Elected to Orioles Hall of Fame in 1994.
Post-playing career:
Orioles broadcaster, 1996-97, 1999-2001. Orioles pitching coach, 1995, 1998.
Personal:
Born Dec. 16, 1951. Grew up in Manchester, N.H. Married with three children. Played baseball and basketball at University of Massachusetts.