If you’re like me (and if so, God help you), you’re probably asking the same question about Craig Albernaz, who has been hired as the new manager of the Orioles:
Why this guy?
And it’s a fair question because a lot of you have never heard of him.
That’s why there will be a lot of chatter on the Oriole-related websites that the team is going cheap again when there are a lot of established managers with serious name recognition that would love to have this or any of the positions that are open this offseason.
I suppose that’s possible, or at least one of the considerations that might have come into play during a relatively quick hiring process, but I’m fairly confident that President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias is quite capable of playing three-dimensional chess when it comes to important decisions like this.
So, why not former Orioles catcher Bob Melvin or any of the other veteran managers who are available? Maybe because, like Brandon Hyde, the reason they are available is because their teams did not meet the expectations of management.
And why a longtime coach without previous major league managerial experience? Maybe because Elias had great success with the rookie manager (Hyde) he hired to oversee his long-term rebuilding project, which begs the question of why the O’s even needed a new manager when times turned rotten in April and May.
Still, it definitely is time to turn the page after the Orioles finished last in the American League East in a season in which they were supposed to be competing for a chance to still be playing right now.
Albernaz is an interesting choice for a number of reasons, not the least of which are the years he spent coaching in the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system. Nobody has identified and successfully developed more young talent over the past couple of decades than the Rays, who have been way more competitive on a perennially short budget that anyone could have a right to expect.
He also broadened that experience during four years as bullpen and catching coach for the San Francisco Giants before spending the last two years as the big league bench coach and then associate manager of a Cleveland Guardians team that won the AL Central title in both of those seasons.
That’s a pretty good resume and the Orioles weren’t the only team that showed interest in him. The only thing really surprising about the decision is that the Orioles confirmed it so quickly. After the strange way they revealed Elias’s promotion, I wasn’t expecting them to make it official until at least next May.
“Craig has built an exemplary career across multiple successful organizations and brings a tremendous amount of experience, knowledge, and talent to our organization and to this new challenge,” Elias said in the media release confirming the hiring. “We believe he is the right person at the right time to elevate our baseball operations and guide our team back to the playoffs and a World Series championship.”
That could be a tall order unless Elias is successful in acquiring a ton of pitching help this winter. As I pointed out in one of my recent posts, the Orioles cannot go into spring training hoping that Trevor Rogers is the real deal and Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Grayson Rodriguez and Albert Suárez will all be healthy enough to pitch for most of the season.
In addition, Elias has to rebuild a competitive AL East-caliber bullpen after moving a huge chunk of last year’s relief corps at the midseason trade deadline.
He might also want to pursue an impact right-handed hitter to help balance the Orioles lineup and discourage opposing managers from stacking left-handed starters against them the way they did all last season.
This offseason figures to be a major test of Ellias’s deal-making acumen and David Rubenstein’s checkbook.