Former Skipper Buck Showalter Believes Orioles Player Development Could Improve With Matt Blood Gone

Like many in the baseball world, former Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who has done most everything in this game including shape the Arizona Diamondbacks organization as an expansion start-up, believes Baltimore’s recent dismissal longtime exec Matt Blood likely means that his former boss, Mike Elias, is safe.

Showalter is a master of saying everything with just a nod, or a facial expression, or a word left unsaid – as was the case throughout our recent discussion of Birdland on “The Daily Flock Show.” And it’s clear he has deep reservations about many things Elias has done since being hired in 2018. The mere length and breadth of this perpetual rebuild gives Showalter pause, though he is hopeful that the franchise he cares so deeply for can improve its failed player-development outcomes with Blood, influential in drafts and everything involved with the organization's minor league system, now gone.

“I think I was there eight-and-a-half, nine years,” Showalter noted of his stint as manager in Baltimore. “Seemed like an eternity. Probably the best stop in my life. But they've been there longer than we were there? How about that? Wow. That's a little jolt.”

Indeed.

Showalter made it pretty clear through the conversation that the decision to select catcher/DH Adley Rutschman over shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. with the first overall pick in 2019 continues to haunt this regime, (casually mentions that CJ Abrams, taken several picks after Adley, is a far superior player, too). And listening to him discuss the ill-fated recent acquisition of Luis Robert Jr. on waivers (basically lighting $5M on fire instead of taking on a healthy player in trade at the deadline) and the emergence if All-Star closer Bryan Baker in Tampa (Elias gave him away in 2025), spoke volumes.

He’s keeping an open mind about what Blood’s removal can mean for minority owner Cal Ripken Jr., an iconic figure and legendary thinker in this game, and baseball manager and instructor Mike Shildt, who took a more hands-on approach to the minor league system this season.

“I think there's a different direction in the minor leagues,” Showalter said of Blood’s ouster. “That's kind of way I read it from afar without delving into something that I just don't know, and there's so many things going on behind the scenes.

“But when you see a close guy that someone had to have and really wanted instrumentally in their system (Elias prioritizing hiring Blood at the start of the rebuild), and now all of a sudden he's out the door and there may be a legitimate reason, maybe it's a family thing … so, I try to keep an open mind about it, but it tells me that there's some different leadership. And who's dictating it, I'm not sure, but I’ve got a seeking suspicion who it is, and you probably do, too.”

Of course, he’s alluding to Elias being behind the move – as the entire industry suspects – which means Elias remains in charge as other things change in 2027 beneath him.

Brighter Times On The Farm?

Orioles top prospects have failed to deliver at the MLB in droves, with the bat or the glove; in many cases they fail with the bat and the glove. With Blood gone, there is at least the potential that Shildt becomes even more firmly in charge of fundamental changes to how youngsters are taught and cultivated at every level of the minors; he managed Ripken at AA and is steeped in The Oriole Way culture of pristine fundamentals that defined this franchise during its heyday from 1966-1983 and was personified by longtime manager (minors and Baltimore) Cal Ripken Sr.

“I obviously like Cal, and I really like Mike,” Showalter said. “Mike is a baseball guy that gets both sides of it (old school and analytics). He's a lifer and when I heard he was with the Orioles with in the minor league situation (it was a good thing) … But sometimes you got to free those guys up to be who they are and be what they are, and maybe that was some of it - that their hands were a little tied there.”

Showalter believes the Orioles missed a window to be more progressive and aggressive from 2023-2025 with the AL East down – New York had issues that plagued them in the playoffs, Tampa dealt with the career-ending arrest of young cornerstone shortstop Wander Franco and a natural disaster wiping out their ballpark for a season, Toronto’s rebuild failed to reach expected heights (Bo Bichette is long gone), Boston was firing managers and general managers … But that’s over now and every team in the division could make the playoffs this season and all are far better positioned moving forward that Baltimore.

Especially with Elias here to stay, apparently.

“I’m not sure if the pieces are always fitting in the holes they have for them - I'm trying to be nice here - but I think they've taken some steps,” Showalter said. “You know, I like the direction in the minor leagues they'll be going now, if it's allowed to be a continuation in the big leagues.”

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock" For No BS O's Conversations And Content

Add us as a preferred source on Google