Perlozzo Fired as Orioles Manager

Trembley Given Interim Job; MacPhail to Join Front Office

Sam Perlozzo took over in mid-season two years ago and went 122-164 in his brief tenure, including 70-92 last season. (Charlie Riedel - AP)

BALTIMORE, June 18 -- Sam Perlozzo, the seventh manager to serve under Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, was fired Monday morning after a tumultuous six-week stretch marked by questionable decisions and horrific losses. Angelos's eighth manager in 14 years will be Dave Trembley, a bullpen coach turned interim bench coach, now turned interim manager. But it is with the naming of a ninth manager that the Orioles could signal a significant shift in direction.

On the same day the Orioles dismissed Perlozzo a little more than 22 months into his reign -- punctuating a 1-8 homestand that concluded Sunday, and ending weeks of uncomfortable speculation over Perlozzo's job status -- reports also surfaced about a major change within the highest levels of the team's power structure.

As first reported on ESPN.com and confirmed Monday afternoon by a top baseball official, the Orioles have reached an agreement to hire former Chicago Cubs president and chief executive Andy MacPhail as their chief operating officer -- marking the first time Angelos will have had a strong baseball presence at the highest operational level. Angelos did not return telephone messages seeking comment.

The significance of the MacPhail move, which has yet to be confirmed by team officials, could be felt immediately with the new managerial hire. Among the potential candidates with ties to MacPhail -- who ran the Cubs from 1994 to 2006, after spending 10 season as general manager of the Minnesota Twins -- are Joe Girardi, a popular catcher for parts of six seasons in Chicago before managing the Florida Marlins in 2006, and former Cubs manager Dusty Baker.

At a tightly scripted news conference Monday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards -- two hours before the team was to depart for a six-game West Coast road trip -- Mike Flanagan, the Orioles' executive vice president for baseball operations, declined to answer questions about the search for Perlozzo's permanent replacement, and also declined to comment about reports regarding MacPhail. Players who were gathering at the stadium for the bus ride to the airport were made off-limits to the media.

Regarding Perlozzo's firing, Flanagan said the decision was made late Sunday night, and that Perlozzo was informed during a 20-minute meeting Monday morning at team offices.

"It was a tough homestand," Flanagan said, "[or] if you want to go back, a tough month. [It included] maybe some of the most horrific losses this club has ever endured. There's been a level of frustration building on our part and by the players. And we felt after this last homestand, it was time to make a change."

Perlozzo, 56, was named interim manager on Aug. 4, 2005, following the firing of Lee Mazzilli, and was given the permanent job shortly after the season. He went 122-164 in the job, including a record of 29-40 this season, which has the Orioles in last place in the American League East and headed toward what would be a 10th consecutive losing season.

"I'm happy they gave me the chance to manage," Perlozzo said in a telephone interview. "I'm sorry I wasn't the guy who could fix it."

Flanagan said the meeting Monday between Perlozzo and front-office officials was "civil" and "honest."

"He said how disappointed he was that he wasn't going to be here to turn it around or see it turn around," Flanagan said. "He talked about he felt he had made the right decisions, but had the wrong reaction at the end."

Many of Perlozzo's decisions, however, had come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks -- particularly those involving a bullpen that was overhauled at a cost of more than $40 million last winter but that has become the flashpoint for frustration this season.