One of the better moves the Baltimore Orioles could have made before the 2025 season began has already happened.
It’s a move many fans have been waiting for, asking for and hoping for, but it still may be underappreciated. And it’s not even a player. Instead, a coach: Buck Britton.
Britton was a player drafted by the Orioles as a third baseman way back in 2008. He was clearly the less successful player from the Britton family. After an eight-year minor league playing career, Britton came back to the Orioles organization in 2017 as a coach.
This move of promoting Britton to an assisting coach on the major league squad has been a long time coming, and it started with the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds in 2017. Since then, his journey has mimicked the development of the Orioles organization since GM Mike Elias’ arrival.
Britton became a first-time manager of the Shorebirds in 2018 when the team was still under the Dan Duquette regime. Unlike most personnel, including his brother, Britton survived the Elias overhaul and became an integral part of it. Keeping Britton around was a part of the rebuild that was spoken upon years ago, and in 2024, we are seeing the fruits of that labor.
Because of the cancellation of the minor league season in 2020, 2021 was the first season Britton really had the chance to begin to grow as a manager alongside the players who were growing into the current stars of the Orioles. This mutual growth is exactly why I love this promotion so much, and it has so much potential.
The 2021 season saw a 73-47 record for the Britton-led Double-A Bowie Baysox, good for second place in the Double-A Northeast Division. That was proof that the rebuild of young homegrown talent was coming together while the major league team was still looking pretty bad. This we already know.
We know in large part that coming together from players on that Baysox roster like Adley Rustchman, Jordan Westburg and Grayson Rodriguez was because of Britton. Because of that, he got to move up with those same players.
Proof of this mutual growth became even more clear in 2022 and 2023, when Britton led the Triple-A Norfolk Tides to respective records of 74-76 and 90-59, including an International League Championship victory and an overall Triple-A Championship in 2023.
Having seen the growth with players on that championship roster like Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, Heston Kjerstad and more, it’s impossible not to be excited for the reunion of all of those aforementioned players being coached again by Britton.
Regardless of the feeling about O’s manager Brandon Hyde, Britton is one hell of an addition to put alongside him on a young team that looked a lot like they could have used Britton’s influence last season.
Britton is an embodiment of that patient and particular plate approach that Elias instilled across the organization back in 2019. It’s part of the reason he survived the management change and became a headliner of it.
Now heading into 2025, besides having new great players that will join the team, seeing how Britton coaches being back alongside this young O’s core will be one of the more exciting things to watch. It could also be a preview of how Britton fares as a manager down the line, whether for the Orioles or another club.
With all of the changes that needed to be made after what happened in the second half last season, promoting Britton really may be a pivotal change. Having seen these players with Britton throughout the minor leagues, I think this is a move more people should be excited about.
What are your thoughts on Buck Britton and his promotion? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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