The Orioles’ team that Craig Albernaz will manage won’t resemble the Cleveland Guardians, the team he coached for the past two seasons.
With Albernaz as bench coach in 2024 and associate manager in 2025, Cleveland won consecutive American League Central titles, leading the division nearly the entire season his first year and engineering an unlikely comeback this year.
On July 6th, the Guardians lost their 10th straight game and fell to a season-low 40-48. The Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves and were 40-49.
Cleveland was in fourth place in the Central, trailing the Detroit Tigers by 15 ½ games.
By the time the Guardians met the Orioles at Progressive Field two weeks later, they had made up substantial ground. They took three of four from the Orioles and began their move. Their record improved to 51-51 and were in second place, eight games out of the lead.
For the rest of the season, Cleveland was 37-23 and, helped by an epic Tigers collapse, won the Central, making manager Stephen Vogt a top candidate for his second straight Manager of the Year award.
Unlike the Orioles, who made seven trades after July 24th, Cleveland made two trades, sending underperforming reliever Paul Sewald to the Tigers and Shane Bieber, who was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, to Toronto. Bieber started Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night.
They suffered a devastating loss when three-time All-Star reliever Emmanuel Clase was placed on administrative leave because of an investigation by MLB into illegal gambling.
The Guardians and Orioles are run differently. The Orioles set a franchise record, using 70 players. Cleveland used 46. The Orioles had 29 players on the injured list; the Guardians had 16.
The Orioles’ position players averaged 26.5 years, fourth youngest in baseball, while Cleveland’s were 27.4 years, 12th youngest. Oriole pitchers were 30.6, fifth oldest, while the Guardian’s pitchers were baseball’s youngest, 27.1 years.
Cleveland was tied for the fourth-lowest earned-run average in baseball with a 3.70 ERA. The Orioles’ 4.60 ERA was tied for the fifth highest.
The Guardians have been known for developing young pitching, a need for the Orioles.
“They pitch to contact. They throw strikes,” a scout who watched Cleveland play in 2025 said. “They’re very solid defensively. They’re very solid fundamentally.”
Albernaz won’t have Carl Willis, the longtime Cleveland pitching coach, widely acclaimed as one of baseball’s best. Nor will he have future Hall of Fame third baseman José Ramirez or ultra-skilled leftfielder Steven Kwan, who has won three Gold Gloves and is a favorite to win his fourth.
He will have Kwan’s Oregon State teammate, catcher Adley Rutschman, who’s underperformed for the last season-and-a-half.
He’ll also be tasked with providing a jolt to Rutschman’s teammates, outfielder Colton Cowser and third baseman Jordan Westburg while coaxing better performances from second baseman Jackson Holliday and shortstop Gunnar Henderson.
The Guardians have a veteran backup catcher, Austin Hedges, who’s batted just.152 and .161 the past two seasons but provides veteran clubhouse leadership, something the Orioles desperately need.
It will be interesting to see what sort of coaching staff Albernaz and president of baseball operations Mike Elias construct. Assistant hitting coaches Tommy Joseph and Sherman Johnson won’t return, and first base coach Anthony Sanders has been given permission to talk with other teams.
Johnson will reunite with former Orioles co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller with the Chicago White Sox.
The future of eight other coaches — pitching coach Drew French, assistant pitching coach Ryan Klimek, bullpen coach Mitch Plassmeyer, hitting coach Cody Asche, third base coach Buck Britton, bench coach Robinson Chirinos, development coach Grant Anders and senior advisor John Mabry is uncertain.
Tony Mansolino, who served as interim manager after the dismissal of Brandon Hyde, is not expected to return, according to another source.
One stat that will probably change is the use of the sacrifice. The Orioles had just four sacrifice bunts, the fewest in baseball. Mansolino wanted to improve on that, and Albernaz probably will. The Guardians had 28 sacrifices, fifth in the game.
The Orioles (77 percent) and Guardians (79 percent) had similar success with stolen bases. With runners in scoring position, Cleveland hit .254; the Orioles hit just .234.
“Smart aggressive baserunning. They are very good with situational hitting,” the scout said about Cleveland. “They will put the ball in play. They can also play small ball.”
Successful managers adapt to their personnel. Albernaz will bring his ideas, experience and personality to the Orioles and try to get them back to the postseason.
Albernaz was a minor league coach, manager and field coordinator in Tampa Bay, and coached in San Francisco and Cleveland.
“Organizations that are seeking a manager go to organizations that are having success,” the scout said. “Those are three pretty good backgrounds.”
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