Baltimore, MD – The Baltimore Orioles and manager Buck Showalter have reportedly established the framework for a multi-year contract extension that would keep him with the club beyond 2013.
The Baltimore Sun reported that there are still some things that need to be worked out, but a deal is expected to be reached sometime in January.
Showalter's current deal expires at the end of the 2013 season.
"Because of the trust we have in each other, (owner Peter Angelos) knows I am not going anywhere," Showalter told the paper earlier this offseason. "He has expressed interest in doing something and I've expressed interest in staying. And we think that can happen."
Showalter surprisingly guided the Orioles to a playoff spot this past season after the team went 93-69 and battled the New York Yankees for an AL East title up until the final day of the season.
The runner-up for the AL Manager of the Year, Showalter may have done his best work this season, as he used 12 different starting pitchers and had only one double-digit winner, a lineup that saw two castoffs (Nate McLouth and Lew Ford) play prominent roles because of injuries, a third baseman playing first base (Mark Reynolds), a first baseman playing right field (Chris Davis) and a 20-year-old rookie shortstop playing third base (Manny Machado).
Despite all of that, Showalter turned a 93-loss team from 2011 into a 93-win team in 2012 and got the Orioles back into the postseason for the first time since 1997.
In Showalter's two-plus seasons in Baltimore, the Orioles are 196-185, a .514 winning percentage, which is seventh all-time for modern day Orioles managers.
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