Pulling more out of the Brandon Hyde press conference

The press conference introducing Brandon Hyde as Orioles manager can be picked apart like a turkey carcass. How Hyde separated himself from the other five candidates. How the front office intends to maintain a daily dialogue with him. The task of constructing a coaching staff. The usage of analytics. Hyde's slow rise to up-and-coming star.

One of the biggest curiosities for me involved the level of front office influence inside the manager's office and the dugout. How much authority will be given to Hyde, removing the perception that he isn't really calling the shots or allowed to trust his gut? That he's going to operate like a robot fueled by analytics.

Mike Elias, hired last month as executive vice president and general manager, explained how the "advanced information" will flow to Hyde and what the former Cubs bench coach will do with it.

"Our job is to provide him with the best information that we can and clubs all across baseball are very competitive in this space right now for obtaining and analyzing and then providing that information in a good way to the coaching staff, to the manager. So that's our job," Elias said.

"All we ask of him is that he understands it and asks questions about it and participates in the process of producing it. And then it's his job to bring his brain and his gut and everything else in the moment-to-moment decisions that ... There's human factors, there's real-time factors that occur. That's why you have a manager and that's the manager's job during the game.

"He's no stranger to this whatsoever because of where he's coming from, and the fact that he comes from the Chicago Cubs was attractive because I think he's going to bring ideas that are new to us and will make us smarter. So, this was an easy one."

Hyde demonstrated again that he's on the same page and the relationship should run smoothly. It was a dominant theme at the presser.

"To piggyback on that," Hyde said, "when we get the information from the R&D (research and development) department from analytics, it's our job as coaches to first of all want the information. I want as much information as possible. And the good coaches are able to communicate that with the players because they've had previous relationships with them, to the standpoint where I can have this conversation with you because there's trust there back and forth. So our job as coaches is to relay this information to players in the best way possible."

Hyde attempted to provide his vision of the team he's going to manage, how he's going to preach aggressiveness while also playing smart.

Jonathan Villar might become a project.

"Smart baseball, aggressive in the right moments, grind out at-bat type of attitude," Hyde said. "There are a lot of adjectives that go into what kind of team I would like, but I think you're going to always manage to your team and what the roster consists of. Whether it's going to be a bunch of power guys or if it's some speed guys. Obviously, you'd like to have a balance of both. So that's the kind of club I'd love to have."

My assumption is that Elias won't want a roster that lives and dies by the longball. And that stockpiling corner outfield/first base/DH types will be frowned upon in this establishment.

Hyde's first order of business, of course, is building a coaching staff and hoping that teams are willing to grant permission at such a late date to let the Orioles poach. Is he comfortable with a bench coach in his mold - younger and lacking in major league managing experience - or does he want a veteran type who's done the job at the highest level?

"How we slot our coaching staff is going to be by fit," he said. "I just want to get the best guys available. We're realistic in that we're late in the game. It's mid-December and we don't have a coaching staff yet.

"We're just going to go through ideas and collaborate on the right fit. Whether that's an older, more experienced bench coach or someone my age or younger, we haven't quite decided that yet."

David Ross won't become bench coach for the Cubs or Orioles. He's staying at ESPN. And Hyde indicated yesterday on MLB Network that raiding the Cubs staff is unlikely.

"There's a good chance that I'm not going to be able to take many people from the Cubs, if any," he said. "I talked to Jed (Hoyer) and Theo (Epstein) about that and we'll have more discussions about it."

Hyde will seek coaches who can teach, the importance obvious to anyone who's scanned the current roster and knows the limitations on spending.

"We're looking for player development guys and guys who are really, really passionate about getting players better," Hyde said. "Around the league, there's a lot of development that's happening in the big leagues. In Chicago, there was a lot of development. Our guys were getting there so fast and winning games that we needed to develop our guys quick. When I was in the Marlins organization, there were a lot of young guys who got there. There was still a ton of development that was happening in the big leagues and it's the same here.

"We're looking for people who are passionate about coaching and grinders that just want to get guys better."

Don't try to squeeze a timeline for contention out of Hyde. It didn't work with Elias and it won't work with him.

"I think we're taking this one step at a time," he said. 'We understand where we are and we're going to be process-based. A lot of Mike and Sig (Mejdal's) job is going to be to get as much talent in here as possible and my job is going to be developing it in the big leagues. So however long that takes. ... But I feel confident that we're going to hire a good coaching staff that's willing to work and willing to get after it. But no timetable."

How does the Orioles managerial position rank in baseball? Hyde showed that he's quick on his feet.

"For me? It better be No. 1," he replied.

"The rich tradition here. Brooks Robinson is sitting here, right? I'm in my new office and there's pictures of Earl Weaver and Cal Ripken Sr. I grew up a baseball rat. To be around that history and to be involved in a city like Baltimore, yeah, it's a dream come true. To be in the American League East and going out competing every single night, that's something you dreamt about forever."

Hyde appreciates the past and is intent on making a good impression on the people currently in the organization. Like how he wants to fly out and meet in person with "a bunch" of his players.

"It's going to be a get-to-know," he said. "I'm going to create the relationship from them as people. And as we go along we'll start talking baseball. But I want them to feel comfortable with me.

"This is a hard game, this is the big leagues, and I have so much respect for the major league player and being able to perform every single night. I want to help them as much as I possibly can."

Invited to view the Orioles job as "daunting," Hyde blocked the word like a splitter in the dirt.

"I don't think 'daunting,' " he replied. "I think the word is, I'm anxious to get it started."

(More like "eager," but let's keep going.)

"I'm looking forward to putting our staff together, getting to know our players, getting down to Sarasota, getting ready to go compete in the American League East," he said. "It's not daunting, it's more like I'm excited to get started."

Maybe it provides some comfort that he has Robinson's blessing. The Hall of Famer has met every manager in Orioles history and the streak continued on Monday.

Robinson, now a special advisor for the Orioles, sat in the front row and later posed for photographs with Hyde and his family.

"I tried to come down early and sit in the manager's room and have a nice chat with him," Robinson told me after the presser. "I'm impressed. They've got a lot of work to do, believe me, but he seems like a very outgoing guy and knows what he wants to do with the players as far as talking to them and getting to know them real well. And he's got an open door during the season for the players to come in.

"I think they got the right guy."

Robinson offered a prediction of sorts for the upcoming season.

"We'll have a good team, an exciting team," he said. "I don't know how many games we'll win, but I don't think we're going to lose 115. That's almost impossible.

"When I joined the Orioles, they were losing 100, so ..."