BALTIMORE (AP) -Dave Trembley will get another chance to coax a winning season out of the Baltimore Orioles in 2009.
The Orioles announced Friday that they will bring Trembley back next season, exercising an option that was the contract he signed last year. The club also added a team option for 2010.
Although the Orioles are in last place in the AL East and took a six-game losing streak into Friday night's game against the Oakland Athletics, the team has been remarkably competitive for much of the season.
Baltimore was 44-41 on July 4 and 60-63 on Aug. 17, but injuries have contributed to a slide that dropped its record to 63-76 through Thursday.
The rebuilding Orioles appeared assured of an 11th straight losing season, but Trembley has received kudos for the no-nonsense manner in which he's run a team which placed only one player - closer George Sherrill - on the AL All-Star squad.
``The thing we were really trying to get was some energy, effort, enthusiasm for the game. Just play the game as well as we can,'' club president Andy MacPhail said near the All-Star break. ``I certainly have been satisfied at the midway point as it relates to that.''
The Orioles were 103-129 under Trembley through Thursday.
Trembley, 56, was named interim manager on June 18, 2007, replacing Sam Perlozzo. Trembley formally became the 17th manager in Orioles history when the interim tag was removed on Aug. 22, 2007.
Little was expected from the Orioles this season, but Trembley called upon his 20 seasons of experience as a minor league manager to squeeze positive results from the squad until injuries to several players, including Sherrill, took its toll.
This is Trembley's 24th season in professional baseball. He joined the Orioles as bullpen coach and field coordinator in 2007.
