Copyright Athlon Sports
The Orioles underperformed significantly in 2025 – that was no secret. Mike Elias’ team opened with Brandon Hyde at the helm, but Hyde was canned in May, being replaced by Tony Mansolino as interim manager. Under Hyde and Mansolino, key players like Adley Rutschman regressed, and an already rail-thin rotation vastly underperformed with Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez out for most of the year. Signs for hope were there – Trevor Rogers justified his 2024 trade deadline price of Kyle Stowers with a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts, a major departure from his 7.11 second-half ERA last year after joining the Orioles, while Bradish was as advertised in six starts down the stretch. The hope was the Orioles would find a manager with a steady hand that could drive the future culture of this program. The Orioles are naming Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz as their manager of the future, according to multiple reports. Albernaz, who played in the Rays and Tigers organizations as a catcher from 2006 to 2014, has been known as one of the game’s top young managers, and promises to steer this very young, raw Orioles team in a new direction. The 42-year-old was a front-runner for the Guardians job in 2023, but joined Cleveland as a bench coach when Stephen Vogt got the job. Albernaz was respected for his innate ability to connect with players, and the Orioles clearly valued that quality in their future skipper. Can The Orioles Return To Competitive Baseball in 2026? The hiring of Albernaz is the first step in what appears to be a full pivot for Elias’ squad, which is still just as young and talented as it was in 2023. Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo and newcomers Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers comprise the core of a team with limitless unrealized potential. The Orioles may also be active on the trade and free agent market this winter, with early reports linking them to Brewers ace Freddy Peralta (a Corbin Burnes déjà vu is certainly sensible), Reds ace Hunter Greene, former Cy Young pitcher Sandy Alcantara and Cardinals starter Sonny Gray. Of course, early trade details are purely speculative, but the Orioles pushed many of their chips into the center when they dealt for Burnes ahead of the 2023 season, and Burnes was one of the primary factors that jolted the O’s to an AL East title. With a blend of former top prospects, aging veterans and current top prospects experiencing their first big-league cup of coffee, Albernaz is going to have his hands full, but he is exactly what the Orioles need: a manager that puts player-manager relationships at the forefront, and will leverage his expertise to take performance to the next level. Heading into the 2026 season, the Orioles are going to need a fresh vision to compete with a newly formidable Red Sox team, as well as the ever-dangerous Yankees and Blue Jays in what is surely the most loaded division in baseball.
