Last weekend, I spent a few days in Sarasota, Florida. I caught a couple Spring Training games and because of help from Orioles Manager of Media Operations, Jeff Lantz, I was able to spend an hour talking to the O’s Director of Major League Administration, Ned Rice.
I want to thank the Orioles organization, and especially Lantz and Rice, for their time because of the awesome experience it gave me with men on the inside of the organization.
This interview took place on Sunday March 23, 2014.
How did you break into the Orioles organization, and what has led to your current position with the team?
As I was approaching graduation at [the College of] William and Mary, I knew I wanted to work in baseball. I was asking everybody I knew for any possible connections, and a friend of a friend knew someone who had been a public relations intern for the Orioles. He helped point me in the right direction, and I was able to obtain an interview for a similar internship with the Orioles and was fortunate enough to get hired.
My ultimate goal was to get an internship in baseball operations, and I got a big break in 2006 when the employee who was in charge of video coaching for the team had a baby just before the season started, and was unable to travel, so the organization needed somebody to drop what they were doing and travel with the team for the entire 2006 season. I was 23 at the time, so naturally I said, “I’ll go!”
When Andy MacPhail was hired in 2007, he brought me on full-time as our Player Information Analyst, and I worked to keep Andy and the rest of our organization up-to-date on the latest industry and sabermetric trends. When Dan Duquette was hired in 2011, Tripp Norton and I were promoted to assist him in the day-to-day operation of the department.
The Baltimore Sun describes your position as “Working with Norton on waivers and rules as a liaison with the labor department of the MLB,” so for the common fan who may not understand that, what exactly does your job entail? How does it change throughout the year?
There are extensive rules that cover rosters, contracts, waivers, and transactions. Tripp and I stay on top of that and make sure Dan and Buck know what they need to know. Sometimes it’s just clarifying a rule, and sometimes it’s presenting a strategy that works best for us given the contract or roster situations of various players. The job demands that you’re accessible around the clock, whether it’s a weekend in the offseason or three in the morning after an extra-inning west coast game ends.
During the season, most of my time is taken up planning and executing the day-to-day transactions with Dan and Buck. Buck might call during a game if a player gets hurt and have us call Norfolk to make sure we hold the right player out from that night’s game. You’ve probably seen over the last few years we’ve been among the league leaders in transactions. If the bullpen has been used heavily of late, we make sure to get a fresh arm that can pitch the next day. That’s the biggest priority in-season: being sure Buck and Dan are happy with the 25 guys in Baltimore each and every day.
On a day-to-day basis, the offseason is much busier. For every free agent we sign, we’ve likely been talking to dozens or so agents trying to get medical records and discuss contract terms. For every trade we make, there were dozens of discussions with other clubs about possible fits. You spend a lot of time on players and teams that you never end up signing, but it’s important work to make sure you’re comfortable with any investments you ultimately make.
Dan did a great job staying patient this offseason and making sure that we were comfortable with the investments we made. We were in discussions with multiple free agents all offseason, but nothing came about that seemed like the right thing for our club. As the market continued to unfold, we ended up signing several very good players at prices we were comfortable with.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the interview tomorrow…
