Before the 2026 season started, one of the first moves president of baseball operations and acting-GM Mike Elias made was hiring a new manager to lead the young crop of Baltimore Orioles.
A search was put forth that was supposed to take the Birds to the next level, after a disappointing 2025 campaign that saw Brandon Hyde lose his job. Many fans clamored for a veteran manager with postseason experience, while others wanted a younger, hungry manager who would relate to the players and ignite a new fire.
On October 27, 2025, it was announced that former associate manager of the Cleveland Guardians, Craig Albernaz, would be hired as the Orioles’ next skipper.
Albernaz came to the Birds as someone highly touted and in-demand, at least according to the media. Baltimore was led to believe this was the next great manager in Charm City, someone who was not only skilled in analytics but also understood how the game is played.
Alby, as many fans began to call him, had been around successful postseason baseball in Cleveland. He would have the ability to use his knowledge of the game to push the O’s core to the next level but was not so far ahead in age that he could not relate to the grind of the season and talk them through the rigors of everyday baseball.
Suddenly, Birdland was buzzing with excitement. What was witnessed in 2023 and 2024 would finally become a more consistent version that would take Baltimore to the next level and beyond.
After a busy offseason of free agent and trade acquisitions, the thought of this club was exciting. The Orioles had a new leader in the dugout who would mold this group into postseason contenders and possibly World Series contenders. Fans were buzzing, and excitement filled the air as spring rolled around.
Then, the season started, and things began to unwind from there.
Jackson Holliday suffered multiple setbacks from a hamate bone fracture. Jordan Westburg suddenly was gone for the year, soon followed by Zach Eflin and eventually Keegan Akin.
Andrew Kittredge had shoulder inflammation, Dean Kremer was slow to come around and failed to start the season with the club, Chris Bassitt had back issues, Trevor Rogers had an IL stint with the flu and Dylan Beavers was gone for two months with an oblique injury.
Adley Rutschman, who looked reenergized, was playing the IL gauntlet and eventually was traded to the division rival Boston Red Sox, while Ryan Helsley has only pitched in 17 games this season due to right elbow inflammation.
Suddenly, we would find out the kind of fixture Alby would have at the helm. Sure, injuries are a part of the game. But you still have a team that can help push through with the right leadership.
You could understand giving a little leeway the first couple of months as Albernaz got his feet under him, but we are now into September baseball, and the look on Alby’s face at times seems like he is trying to keep his head above water.
Albernaz does not have the confidence that you see in most managers. He has maintained a look of second-guessing himself, adding more doubt into the minds of the fans. Not to mention, he has had a few awkward interactions with members of the media during pre-and-post-game press conferences.
As Elias watches this team struggle to stay in a Wild Card race where every team involved is practically handing the opportunity to the Orioles to take, he has to wonder if he made the right choice.
If the Orioles continue to spiral here at the end of the season, does moving on from Alby become a possibility? If baseball is lost for most of 2027, does that make a chance to start 2028 fresh realistic?
These have to be things that are considered, especially when the Orioles hire a new general manager, which is expected during the offseason, if one has not already been put in place.
While a rookie manager may have been given more slack and a longer leash, Albernaz came with a background that was supposed to be that of an experienced manager, one who was highly touted and a desired candidate for many teams, and one you could not go wrong with hiring.
The question on the table through it all, and after the season ends, is going to be: Is Craig Albernaz really the right guy?
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