In his first week as Oriole manager, Craig Albernaz has a managerial tree. In Albernaz’s first job as a minor league coach in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, one of his players was Blake Butera, whom the Washington Nationals hired as manager on Friday.
The 33-year-old Butera becomes the youngest major league manager in more than 50 years, and the 43-year-old Albernaz has a connection. Butera had a brief minor league career in the Rays’ organization in 2015 and 2016 when Albernaz coached and then began a career in Tampa Bay’s organization.
Butera may be the first major league manager to have an up-to-date LinkedIn account. Albernaz has one, too, but it’s not current.
Under his listings as minor league manager, minor league field coordinator and senior director, player development, all with the Rays, Butera lists “Problem Solving and Interpersonal Skills,” as positive attributes.
Butera’s stunning hiring continues a trend in which only two of the six managers hired this offseason—Texas’ Skip Schumaker and Minnesota’s Derek Shelton — had major league experience and only two, Schumaker and the Los Angeles Angels’ Kurt Suzuki, played in the major leagues.
There are still three managing jobs that haven’t been filled — Atlanta, Colorado and San Diego.
There’s chatter that the Braves are waiting on Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann, who’ll be available to hire this weekend with the conclusion of the World Series
Reports indicate that the Padres are zeroing in on three candidates — former Orioles catcher Nick Hundley, currently a special assistant to general manager Chris Young in Texas; their pitching coach Ruben Niebla; and Albert Pujols.
None has managed in the major leagues, and Niebla never played in the majors.
Pujols would be a counterintuitive hire since the trend in baseball is that playing experience isn’t a prerequisite.
With three jobs open, there are an unprecedented 12 managers without major league playing experience.
Under various administrations, the Orioles haven’t considered that an important qualification. Eight of the 22 men who’ve managed the Orioles, including three interim managers, didn’t have playing experience.
Other Oriole managers who lacked major league experience are his immediate predecessors, Tony Mansolino and Brandon Hyde; Earl Weaver and Buck Showalter, the longest tenured managers; Dave Trembley; Ray Miller; and Cal Ripken Sr.
Longtime Braves manager Brian Snitker, who retired after the season, doesn’t believe the trend of hiring managers who haven’t been major league players is a drawback.
Of the 27 current managers, only five — Schumaker, Shelton, the Chicago Cubs’ Craig Counsell, Cincinnati’s Terry Francona and Detroit’s A.J. Hinch — have had more than one full-time managing job.
“I think experience is usually, overwhelmingly a big positive,” Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias said on September 29th’s end-of-season press conference. “In our particular situation, I think it will definitely carry a lot of weight given all the factors that you just described. But if you look at history, it is not a requisite for managerial success and it’s not necessary and nor does it guarantee success.
“Like I said earlier, it’ll all be weighed in the portfolio of the candidate and there are other perceived strengths and areas of lacking. We’ll just look at the whole picture and the person and try to decide who’s best for us right now. But you know, experience would definitely be an attractive feature by and large.”
The hiring of Albernaz, while not forecast, seems to be more conventional than that of Butera’s or the San Francisco Giants’ decision to hire University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello.
Managers also are getting younger. The four oldest MLB managers in 2025 — Ron Washington (Angels), Bruce Bochy (Texas), Snitker and Bud Black (Colorado) — moved on, leaving Pat Murphy (Milwaukee) and Francona as the only managers born in the 1950s.
Butera, who becomes the first manager born in the 1990s, supplants St. Louis’ Oliver Marmol as the youngest manager. As of now, Albernaz will be the fifth youngest, one day younger than the Chicago White Sox’s Will Venable. Stephen Vogt, for whom Albernaz worked, in Cleveland is the fourth youngest.
For now, Hyde, whose 421 wins were the fourth most in Orioles history, is without a job for 2026. He reportedly interviewed with the Angels, Giants and Nationals.
The Rockies have yet to fill their vacant general manager’s position, and only then will they search for a manager.
That’s how Hyde got the Orioles’ job seven years ago. He interviewed for multiple jobs that offseason without success and when Elias was hired in mid-November, he came to Baltimore in December.
Hyde led the Orioles to 101 wins in 2023 and the American League East title and the postseason last season, winning Manager of the Year in 2024.
Perhaps that history repeats itself in Colorado in 2025.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.