In some unexpected news, late Sunday night we got word that the O’s were on the verge of hiring a new manager: Craig Albernaz, most recently the bench coach of the Cleveland Guardians. Jeff Passan was first on the report:
The Baltimore Orioles are finalizing a deal to hire Craig Albernaz as manager, sources tell ESPN. Albernaz, 42, was previously associate manager with Cleveland and was a widely sought-after candidate for open managerial jobs. He joins a O's team coming off a 75-87 season.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 27, 2025
If Jeff says he was “widely sought-after,” that’s good enough for me! I will of course admit to never having heard of Craig before in my life.
While this isn’t a splashy hire, there’s no reason to not be optimistic. As time dragged on, it seemed less and less likely that Mike Elias & Co. would just hand the job back to interim manager Tony Mansolino on a permanent basis, but there were still plenty of people “in the know” who seemed to expect that to be the most likely scenario. To my mind, that would have been inexcusable.
In recent weeks, we’d heard rumors of Albert Pujols being on the Birds’ radar, while some fans were excited at the possibility of former Oriole Ryan Flaherty returning to the roost as a manager.
The Albernaz news comes seemingly out of nowhere. A quick glance at his resume shows that he was a catcher in the Tampa Bay Rays organization (catchers always make the best managers, right? I swear I’ve heard that…) from 2006 to 2013, and then joined them as a minor-league coach in 2015. He worked his way up, was named the 2018 Midwest League Manager of the Year for the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods, then was the San Francisco Giants’ bullpen and catching coach from 2019-2023. The 2021 Giants won 107 games and the NL West, losing in the NLDS.
At that point, he joined Cleveland as the bench coach, and was named associate manager before the 2025 season. The Guards won the AL Central in both seasons, losing in the ALCS to the Yankees last year and in the Wild Card series to Detroit a few weeks ago.
Criag served four years under Gabe Kapler in SF. In Cleveland, his boss was Stephen Vogt.
I’m absolutely on board with this. Let’s see who Albernaz adds to his staff now. Welcome aboard, Skip!
