The Orioles are in the final stages of negotiations with Craig Albernaz about a deal to become the team’s next manager, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Moments before Passan’s report, Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote that Albernaz was the “frontrunner” in the Orioles’ search.
It’s quite an early birthday present for Albernaz, who turns 43 later this week. Albernaz worked as the Guardians’ associate manager after working as the team’s bench coach in 2024, and four seasons on the Giants’ coaching staff as a bullpen and catching coach. Prior to his work on big league staffs, Albernaz spent four years in the Rays’ farm system, including managerial stints at the high-A and low-A levels. Albernaz is a former player, suiting up primarily as a catcher in the Rays’ and Tigers’ farm systems from 2006-14.
Albernaz’s job with the Guardians developed after Cleveland interviewed him about their last managerial vacancy, and Stephen Vogt then hired Albernaz to his own coaching staff. Albernaz was a finalist for both the White Sox and Marlins in their managerial searches last offseason, and he was linked to the Giants’ vacancy this year and also interviewed with the Nationals. There hadn’t been any public indication that Albernaz was in the running for Baltimore’s job, but it isn’t surprising that the O’s were eyeing someone who has been such a popular candidate in recent years.
Like previous Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, Albernaz is becoming a full-time MLB manager for the first time, and is coming to the job at a relatively young age (Hyde was 45 when hired in December 2018.) The circumstances of this hiring for O’s president of baseball operations Mike Elias are much different this time around — Hyde was hired to oversee an Orioles team embarking on a rebuild, while Albernaz will be tasked with getting a contender back on track.
It seemed like Baltimore’s rebuild had paid off when the team had a winning season in 2022, and when the O’s then reached the playoffs in both 2023 and 2024. However, a bunch of pitching injuries and a near team-wide set of offensive struggles essentially sunk this year’s Orioles right out of the gate, as Hyde was fired in May when the team had a 15-28 record.
Tony Mansolino posted a winning 60-59 record after being promoted from third base coach to interim manager, which made Mansolino a candidate for the full-time position this offseason. The Orioles were also linked to former Mariners manager Scott Servais, former Mets manager Luis Rojas, and superstar Albert Pujols in their managerial search, plus Cubs bench coach and ex-O’s player Ryan Flaherty was reportedly under consideration.
Albernaz doesn’t have the experience or the name value as the other candidates, yet he’ll become the latest in a long line of skippers with past ties to the Guardians and/or Rays organizations. Those two teams have made a habit of staying in contention while focusing on player development, which is key for an O’s team that will need several of its young building blocks to rebound from underwhelming 2025 seasons. How the Orioles will augment their young core with offseason additions is now the next goal for Elias with the managerial search concluded.
This has been a busy offseason for managerial hirings and firings, and we’re still not even halfway through the list of teams looking for new skippers in 2026. The Orioles join the Angels (Kurt Suzuki), Giants (Tony Vitello), and Rangers (Skip Schumaker) as teams who have hired new managers, while the Nationals, Padres, Twins, Braves, and Rockies remain searching.
Inset photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale — Imagn Images
Source link
