The Baltimore Orioles have hired Craig Albernaz as their manager for the 2026 season, bringing in a fresh face to turn around a franchise that hit rock bottom last year.
Albernaz takes over from Tony Mansolino, who managed the team on an interim basis after Brandon Hyde was fired in May following a brutal 15-28 start. The Orioles were supposed to compete in the American League, but instead cratered to a 75-87 record and last place in the AL East.
It’s Albernaz’s first shot at running a big league club.
The 39-year-old has been grinding through baseball’s coaching ranks since 2015, when he joined the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He worked his way up through their farm system and earned 2018 Midwest League Manager of the Year honors while managing the Bowling Green Hot Rods, Tampa Bay’s High-A affiliate at the time.
That success caught the attention of the San Francisco Giants, who hired Albernaz as their bullpen and catching coach in 2019. After a few seasons in San Francisco, the Cleveland Guardians brought him aboard as bench coach following the 2023 season.
Cleveland promoted him to associate manager for 2025 – a role that’s often seen as “manager-in-waiting.” The associate manager typically works closely with the skipper on strategy and leadership, sometimes specializing in offense or defense. While Albernaz was being groomed for a managerial role, it just wasn’t going to be in Cleveland.
Now he gets his chance in Baltimore.
The Orioles considered keeping Mansolino, who did what he could after taking over mid-season, but ultimately decided to go in a different direction. It’s unclear whether Mansolino will remain with the organization in another capacity.
For a franchise that expected to contend and instead watched everything fall apart, bringing in someone with Albernaz’s development background makes sense. The question now is whether he can help Baltimore bounce back from one of their most disappointing seasons in recent memory.
