It was somewhat of a foregone conclusion once the Pittsburgh Pirates began the proceedings by dismissing their manager, Derek Shelton, but following the firing of Bud Black by the Colorado Rockies, no one in baseball was riding a hotter seat than Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.
The talent-laden Orioles had a pitiful 15-28 record as the end of May threatened the calendar, which was simply untenable for a team that won 101 games (and the AL East) two years ago and 91 games last year.
Hyde joined the O's cause in 2018, when they posted a historically bad 47-155 record. They would lose 108 and 110 games, respectively, in 2019 and 2021 as they fought through one of the ugliest rebuilds in recent memory.
However, thanks to some great drafting, the Orioles emerged from their slumber with one of the best young offensive cores in MLB. It's that very group that can help Baltimore salvage this era, even without the manager who got them to this point.
Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, and company are too good to be down for long
Now, this isn't a proclamation that the Orioles can save the 2025 season. Their much-maligned pitching staff is as bad as was feared during the offseason, when the team tried to replace Corbin Burnes with a combination of Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano.
In fairness, Sugano and de facto ace Zach Eflin have been strong pillars atop the rotation this year, logging 3.08 and 3.13 ERAs, respectively, this year.
But the rest of the rotation is an unmitigated disaster, and even late-season returns from Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez would hardly turn this group around. Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson have been worth a collectively -1.2 fWAR in just over 50 innings this season — it would take an entire offseason of overhaul to fix what ails the Orioles.
However, that's where the hope lies. Despite a down season from Rutschman at the plate, Gunnar Henderson (112 wRC+) and Jackson Holliday (118 wRC+) have been forces atop the lineup, while a breakout campaign from Ryan O'Hearn (159 wRC+) should have Orioles fans hopeful for the future. That core, combined with injured stars Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser, is the foundation of a deep lineup, one that can cover for the flaws of even the worst pitching staff.
Luckily, all of those players (save for O'Hearn) are under 28 years in age and have accumulated three years or less of service time. They'll be cheap enough for long enough for the Orioles to be able to spend big on legimitate starting pitchers come the 2025-26 offseason.
Unlike the floundering Pirates or aimless Rockies, the Orioles' managerial opening is promising both now and in the immediate future. If the franchise decides to allocate its resources to the right place, the next dugout leader in Baltimore should be able to kickstart a long era of Orioles success.