In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes the "brain trust" of Orioles manager Buck Showalter and Exec VP/Baseball Operations Dan Duquette -- despite "all the whispers about their frosty relationship -- worked wonders here for a long time." That means if the Orioles "let Showalter go" this offseason, the team "better be ready to hit the ground with someone who has exhibited the ability to develop a young team and do it in a timely manner." The Orioles "certainly need an organizational reset, and it's entirely possible that someone other than Showalter might be better suited to turn things around" (BALTIMORE SUN, 9/26).
NO EXCUSES: In St. Louis, Benjamin Hochman writes he was "taken aback by the amount of empty seats -- and even entire sections -- at Busch Stadium" for Brewers-Cardinals on Monday that had NL Wild Card ramifications. The announced attendance of 36,508 came "following a weekend of sellouts." School is "back in session" and it was a "gloomy day in St. Louis -- and there proved to be rain later in the night." Hochman: "Still, it was a weird image" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 9/26).
VICTIM OF THEIR OWN SUCCESS: The Giants this week parted ways with GM Bobby Evans after a second consecutive losing season, and MLB Net's Joel Sherman noted the team in some ways was "done in by success." Sherman: "They won three championships in five seasons, they drew full houses every year and they felt they had to keep doubling down on the way they did things and the people they did it with." The Giants are now "pulling the band-aid off and recognizing that they need to step towards modernity" ("MLB Now," MLBN, 9/25). The S.F. Chronicle's Henry Schulman said of Evans' replacement, "I don't necessarily think they really have to find the next Harvard grad. They are going to look at all sorts of different kinds of general manager candidates" (“The Rundown,” MLBN, 9/25).
