Many Kansas City Royals fans were glad to see the Allard Baird regime come to an end. The Baltimore Orioles might just see its beginning. The former Royals GM ruled the roost from 2000-06 and in that span had three 100-loss seasons in his belt. Apparently that track record hasn’t hurt him too much since ESPN’s Buster Olney calls Baird his favorite for the Orioles current GM opening.
“The Orioles interviewed Dan Duquette, and are scrambling around to get permission on others,” writes Olney. “To repeat: Some assistant GMs who are well-regarded in the business would prefer to not interview with the Orioles, because they are simply not interested in the job. If I had to guess: As of today, I think Allard Baird — the former GM of the Royals, and now part of the Red Sox organization — would be the front-runner if it’s a job he wants.”
It’s amazing how people with such a poor track record in various sports get new jobs again and again. Baseball general managers are akin to NBA head coaches. They’re recycled no matter how good or bad they were the last time out. Good luck to the Orioles who will likely continue to languish in last place in that powerful division.