After a four-week search, the Orioles are close to hiring Cleveland Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz as their new manager.
He replaces Brandon Hyde, who was fired on May 17th after compiling a 15-28 record, and Tony Mansolino, who was 60-59 after replacing Hyde.
ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan was first to report the news that the Orioles were close to hiring Albernaz.
The Orioles declined comment on the report. Teams are discouraged from making major announcements on days of World Series games, and the Series resumes on Monday night in Los Angeles with Game 3 between the Blue Jays and Dodgers.
It isn’t known how many candidates president of baseball operations Mike Elias interviewed or why he chose Albernaz, who’ll turn 43 on Thursday.
Elias referred to Mansolino as a “real candidate” in his September 29th end-of-season press conference. Albernaz, who spent the past two seasons with Cleveland and four with San Francisco, is a month younger than Mansolino.
Albernaz reportedly interviewed for the vacant Washington Nationals job as did Hyde. Last year, he interviewed with the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins for managerial positions before withdrawing.
He played eight seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays organization and one with Detroit as a catcher before beginning his coaching career with the Rays as a minor league coach in 2015. Albernaz was in Tampa Bay’s minor league system for five seasons.
Albernaz will be the fourth straight Orioles manager without major league playing experience. Neither Hyde, Mansolino nor Buck Showalter played in the major leagues.
Now, the Orioles must assemble a coaching staff for Albernaz, who served under Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt.
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