Orioles hitting coach Jim Presley has been re-assigned due to a “personal situation” according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun. This move was reportedly not made due to the O’s offensive performance in 2014. Which is good because the club had the third highest OPS in the AL (.734) and the fifth highest hit total (1,434).
Maybe they need a more well rounded offensive approach in 2015, 47.80 percent of their runs were scored via the home run, but it’s certainly not a reason to remove the hitting coach. In my opinion that “problem” has more to do with roster construction than it does approach at the plate.
Connolly lists a few candidates that the Orioles have interest in for the open position. There are some really interesting names on the list: B.J. Surhoff, Brady Anderson, Charlie Manuel, Jim Thome and Raul Ibanez.
He notes that the Orioles get the sense that if Ibanez doesn’t get hired as the Rays next manager, he’ll likely take 2015 off.
