BALTIMORE—When Brandon Hyde was hired as Orioles manager in December 2018, the conventional wisdom was that he was a placeholder, a short-term skipper who could absorb a few seasons of rebuilding and be replaced when the team began contending.

Instead, Hyde withstood the 108-loss 2019 season, a 2021 with 110 losses and a difficult 2020 with the challenges of a pandemic and a 60-game season.

By 2022, it was clear the team was starting to improve and Hyde remained as the Orioles won 83 games, their first winning season since 2016. Better times were here, and in 2023, the Orioles shockingly won 101 games and the American League East before losing three straight to the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series.

Last season, despite injuries and a subpar offense in the second half of the season, the Orioles won 91 games before they were swept in two games by the Kansas City Royals in the Wild Card Series.

Even though the Orioles didn’t re-sign their best starting pitcher in a generation, Corbin Burnes, or slugger Anthony Santander, who hit 44 home runs in 2024, the team was largely expected to be a contender this year, too.

Before the season, I must have read 25 or 30 playoff prognostications, and not a single one had the Orioles missing the postseason.

Once the season started, it was quickly apparent that there was something drastically wrong with the team. Whenever asked I answered that you couldn’t make a judgment until the team played 30 or 40 games.

How could so many baseball analysts be wrong? There’s an old saying on Wall Street that the crowd is always wrong, and in this case, everyone was wrong.

I was quick to point out that leftfielder Colton Cowser’s injury was a huge one, and the poor performance and hamstring strain Jordan Westburg suffered was key as well.

Starting pitching has been dreadful. Grayson Rodriguez hasn’t pitched since early March, and the Orioles will be fortunate to see him before the All-Star break.

Fans were calling for something to change, and whether the firing of Hyde was initiated by owner David Rubenstein or executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, Saturday’s news couldn’t have been a surprise.

Hyde was loath to criticize his players publicly, and his over-reliance on the bullpen could be questioned, but overall he was a good manager for a young team with no expectations.

In 2024, the Orioles got two strong starts against the Royals but scored only one run, and the coaching staff was changed. Co-hitting coaches Ryan Fuller left for the Chicago White Sox and Matt Borgschulte for the Minnesota Twins, and the Orioles promoted Cody Asche from offensive strategist to lead hitting coach.

They let go of their two oldest coaches, Fredi González and José Hernández, and went with younger coaches. Neither Buck Britton nor Robinson Chirinos, their replacements, had any major league coaching experience, so when it came time to replace Hyde, Elias had little choice but to turn to Tony Mansolino.

Mansolino is a modest man who never played in the majors. That’s not a dealbreaker these days. More than a third of major league teams are managed by men without major league playing experience.

Mansolino’s first two games have been difficult for him and Orioles fans. If he somehow manages to get this group into contention or at least playing respectably, perhaps he gets another chance in 2026. If not, there’s a full managerial search after the season.

If the Orioles don’t turn the record around in the next two months, there could be a massive selloff at the July trade deadline. Starters Zach Eflin and Tomoyuki Sugano, centerfielder Cedric Mullins and first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn could be attractive to playoff contenders. So could relievers Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto, all of whom will be free agents after this season.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who has another season of team control beyond this season, also could be coveted by other teams.

Fans don’t have to have long memories to recall the massive 2018 selloff, which included trades of Manny Machado, Zack Britton, Brad Brach, Kevin Gausman, Darren O’Day and Jonathan Schoop.

The rest of that forgettable season was a slog, and the Orioles lost a franchise-worst 115 games. Fan interest lagged, and it took four years to rebuild it.

Elias hasn’t spoken since the Hyde firing, so we don’t know his reasoning for the move and what he’s contemplating next.

Rubenstein had an enjoyable first year and wants to see a payoff for the $1.725 billion he and his group spent to buy the Orioles.

The next moves are unknown, but it seems certain that 2025 will go down as the most disappointing season in Orioles history.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: [email protected].