Albernaz takes over as Orioles manager with an eye on a 2026 rebound in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (AP) – It’s not every day a new manager is introduced in front of one of his future opponents.

The relationship between Craig Albernaz and Stephen Vogt is clearly a special one.

Albernaz held his first news conference since being hired by the Baltimore Orioles, and Vogt – Cleveland’s manager – was on hand to support him Tuesday at Camden Yards. Albernaz spent the past two seasons with Vogt and the Guardians, working as bench coach and then associate manager. Now they’ll be in opposing dugouts.

“There’s going to be a lot of trash talk back and forth,” Vogt said.

Cleveland won the AL Central each of Albernaz’s two seasons there, rallying from a 15 1/2-game deficit this year. That’s the level Baltimore is hoping to return to. The Orioles made the playoffs in 2023 and 2024 before falling to 75 wins and the AL East cellar this season.

The theme of Tuesday’s event was rebounding from that showing. Albernaz was flanked by team president Mike Elias and owner David Rubenstein, and all three have a role in getting the team back on track. A year ago at this time, Baltimore still looked like one of the more promising rosters in baseball, and the Orioles are hoping that potential is still very much there.

“I just can’t wait for the fans to come out to watch our boys compete, because they’re going to play a very exciting brand of baseball,” Albernaz said. “As Mike alluded to, it’s going to be a great bounce-back year for this group, and I can’t wait. I’m excited.”

It’s certainly a job with upside, given the presence of young shortstop Gunnar Henderson, infielder Jackson Holliday and catchers Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo. The Orioles, with Henderson and Rutschman leading the way, won 101 games in 2023.

Albernaz is a Massachusetts native and has the accent to show it.

“We think he can learn to speak Baltimore-ese,” Rubenstein said.

He was introduced days after the Toronto Blue Jays – the last place team in the AL East in 2024 – came within inches of winning the World Series. That said a lot about how much can change in a year, and how much talent is in the division from top to bottom.

Rubenstein also pointed out that Albernaz’s lack of big league playing experience – and 5-foot-8 frame – only made him similar to the most successful Orioles manager of them all.

“We had another manager, who is in the Hall of Fame, who never played in the major leagues, named Earl Weaver,” Rubenstein said. “Earl Weaver was also not a tall person.”

Before going to Cleveland, Albernaz was a bullpen and catching coach for the San Francisco Giants from 2020-23. He also managed at the Class A level in the Tampa Bay organization in 2017 and 2018, earning Midwest League Manager of the Year honors in 2018.

“I’m just going to be me,” he said. “That’s all I know. Players want to know who is in their corner that’s authentic and real, when you need a sounding board. … (Longtime manager) Joe Maddon said it years ago that you tell the player the truth, he might be mad at you for a day. If you lie to him, you’ve lost him forever.”

Vogt figures Albernaz’s attitude should go over just fine.

“He’s going to absolutely crush it,” Vogt said. “You’re going to love him here.”

Baltimore also made a trade Tuesday, acquiring reliever Andrew Kittredge from the Chicago Cubs for cash. Kittredge was with the Orioles this year before he was dealt to Chicago in July for a minor league infielder.