LAS VEGAS _ Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias on Tuesday denied he'd selected Chicago Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde as his new manager, declaring "very clearly it's a premature report" as news of the hire flashed across MLB Network on a muted television in his suite during a media briefing.
Hyde, 45, was in his second stint as Cubs bench coach, this time under manager Joe Maddon. He was the first base coach when Chicago won the World Series in 2016. He made it to the majors as the then-Florida Marlins bench coach in 2010 after part of one season as a minor league infield coordinator, parts of two seasons as a minor league hitting coach and five seasons as a minor league manager in that organization.
His selection, reported by the New York Post and The Athletic, comes at the end of a protracted process after Elias was hired in mid-November. It left the Orioles in the rare position of attending this week's winter meetings looking for a manager.
Team officials have not confirmed Hyde's selection, though Elias had the chance when he met with reporters Tuesday evening in his suite. Earlier in the media session, Elias said he hadn't narrowed the six-candidate pool down to one, and hadn't even crossed possible candidates from his list. He said he was "closer in the sense that I continue to work on this hire," but that he would not anticipate it being completed by the time the winter meetings ended Thursday.
Still, the Orioles' seal of silence on the search was broken in surreal fashion. To that point in the media session, Elias had only said he interviewed six candidates _ which match the reported names of Hyde, Seattle Mariners bench coach Manny Acta, Washington Nationals bench coach Chip Hale, Arizona Diamondbacks vice president of player development Mike Bell, Colorado Rockies bench coach Mike Redmond and Kansas City Royals quality control/catching coach Pedro Grifol.
Elias would not confirm or deny their identities, and asked about the logic behind that _ he was also hired in a hushed process by executive vice president John Angelos and managing partner Louis Angelos _ Elias said: "I don't see any value in not keeping it close to the vest."
He cited the respect to the candidates and their current jobs, and that many people leaking such information might impact them. Then, the reports of Hyde being selected the Orioles' next manager flashed across Elias' television screen.
"It's the winter meetings," Elias said.
