Baltimore to pursue Johnson, Manuel, Baylor

	Joe Girardi was the NL Manager of the Year in 2006 after leading the Marlins to 78 wins. AP

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Joe Girardi's decision to turn down the Orioles is a big blow to them. They saw Girardi as the perfect no-nonsense person to start their needed turnaround. But Girardi decided on Thursday against replacing fired Sam Perlozzo as manager.

With first-choice Girardi out of the picture the Orioles are expected to look at former Orioles manager Davey Johnson, former White Sox manager Jerry Manuel, former Cubs and Rockies manager Don Baylor, and perhaps others. Dusty Baker's name has surfaced, but it would be difficult to think that new Orioles president Andy MacPhail would hire Baker after their partnership ultimately failed with the Cubs.

Girardi was fired by the Marlins after disagreements surfaced between himself and his bosses, including owner Jeffrey Loria, and some of Girardi's friends were advising him against going to work for Orioles owner Peter Angelos, a well-known meddler. Angelos' well-documented history might have made Loria look like Boss of the Year.

"I was flattered the Orioles called," Girardi said by phone on Thursday. "I had a great interview. It's a great baseball town with obviously a lot of tradition. I was impressed by the front office and I enjoyed my time with Andy MacPhail. It just wasn't the right time. Based on that, I didn't take the job.''

Girardi, who was National League Manager of the Year for Florida last season, will wait to see what other jobs open in coming months. One big selling point for the Orioles had been MacPhail, whom Girardi knew from their days together with the Cubs when he was the team's catcher. However, MacPhail may not have been enough to convince Girardi that Angelos is serious about staying out of baseball affairs. MacPhail's ties to Angelos go back to their days together as management's chief negotiators in the last labor talks.

Girardi, currently working as a Yankees broadcaster, missed out on one of his two dream jobs when the Cubs hired Lou Piniella over him last winter. And Girardi also knows there's no guarantee he'd be picked to replace Joe Torre as Yankees manager should Torre be replaced this winter. Don Mattingly has been viewed as George Steinbrenner's first choice, so the Yankees could not guarantee Girardi that he'll be Torre's successor. However, he'll probably have a chance at the Yankees job since the baseball people are believed to favor him.

Even with Girardi turning them down, the Orioles felt that a change needed to be made. Perlozzo is said to have lost the front office with his handling of the revamped bullpen and lost the clubhouse in recent weeks when he publicly challenged starter Daniel Cabrera to "be a man ... to go out and finish the game.'' And when he told Jay Gibbons "you're my guy'' before benching him a few hitless games later.

There was a belief that Perlozzo's problem was that he was too concerned about being well-liked in the clubhouse. No chance the no-nonsense Girardi would've fallen into that same trap.