Cal Ripken Jr.’s role with the Orioles is growing beyond his part ownership

SEATTLE — Since returning to the Orioles organization as part owner of the club with which he became a Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken Jr. has quietly taken on a larger role in baseball operations.

Two people with knowledge of Ripken’s role who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Ripken has increased his presence in player development areas, including work on fundaments, as The Athletic first reported.

Before Thursday’s game, manager Craig Albernaz said Ripken is one of many people in the organization to help with a “think tank of us idea sharing to get … what’s best for the players” throughout all levels of the organization.

According to one of the people familiar with the situation, Ripken didn’t force his presence in baseball operations. Over time as his relationships grew he was asked to help, and his role, mostly on the minor league side, has expanded. Ripken and Mike Shildt, the upper-level coordinator of instruction, have a long-standing relationship stemming from Shildt’s childhood around Ripken in the minors.

Ripken, through a spokesperson, declined to comment. But Albernaz said Ripken is part of a large group that includes minor league field coordinator Jeff Kunkel, lower-level coordinator of instruction Samuel Vega, director of player development Anthony Villa and Shildt.

“I’m not sure if he’s actually working with players hands-on, but having Cal around is such a value — an understatement,” Albernaz said. “The thing with Cal is, he has such a great way about him. He has a wealth of knowledge. Obviously, his playing career speaks for itself, and he has such a great way of disarming everyone when you talk to him. And he never uses the word ‘I’, like ‘how I did things’ or ‘how we did.’”

Instead, Albernaz said, Ripken engages in baseball conversations with members of the organization, although he doesn’t force his opinion.

“He never feels like his way is the right way,” Albernaz said. “It’s more of an open dialogue of how he sees the game, how everyone else sees the game, and just being a resource for everyone in this organization. He’s been great to have conversations with this year, popping in, talking even with our hitting guys and Miggy [infield coach Miguel Cairo] and [third base coach] Buck [Britton] about infield play.”

The Orioles have struggled at times this year with fundamentals at the major league level, particularly on defense. Albernaz often says “development is messy” and improvement will come with time.

Part of those efforts comes from establishing best practices in the minor leagues. President of baseball operations Mike Elias said this season that defense has always been a focus for the organization but that Albernaz is bringing best practices he learned during his time in Tampa Bay, San Francisco and Cleveland.

The hiring of Shildt, the former San Diego Padres manager, and the promotion of Vega appear to be efforts to establish those best defensive practices early in the minor league process.

“Hiring Shildty and his role and promoting Sam Vega, both of them coordinators of instruction. It’s a new role for them, so they want to make sure what’s happening at the big league level is being filtered down to the minor league level,” Albernaz said. “So there are constant conversations. It was great to have Shildty around a lot in spring training and have that mind. He has such a great P.D. [player development] background and upbringing with the Cardinals, and he has such a passion for the little things and fundamentals.”

Albernaz said it’s not a one-way street from the major league staff to the minors. Instead, “sometimes the best idea can come at the complex league that we might want to implement.”

Albernaz said the major league staff, especially bench coach Donnie Ecker and catching coach Joe Singley, works to find ways to improve the processes in the majors and minors together.

Ripken hasn’t held a coaching position with the Orioles, but his father was a longtime coach and manager in Baltimore. Ripken doesn’t hold an official title beyond his role as a part owner. But, as one of the people familiar with Ripken’s involvement said, he has been a resource for Elias and across the organization.