Baltimore Orioles introduce new manager Craig Albernaz, vision for the future
Good morning everyone and welcome to the warehouse as we introduce the next manager of the Baltimore Orioles, Craig Albernaz. I’d like to recognize all the fans and anyone watching on Masson live and the Orio social channels. Up here on the dais with us today we have Orioles president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Elias, Orioles control owner David Rubenstein, and the new manager of the Baltimore Orioles, Craig Albernez. Before we get into today’s program, I’d like to recognize *** couple of people in the audience. First, Cleveland Guardian’s manager Stephen Vogt and his wife Alyssa, thank you both for being here today. Members of Craig’s family, his wife, Genevieve, his sons, CJ and Norman, and his daughter Gigi, thank you all for being here. With that, I’ll turn it over to Orioles president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Elias. Thanks Nate. uh, good morning everybody and thank you for coming. Big day for us and the organization, um, you know, so much to say about *** higher like this and the importance of it, um, you know, the, the, the job managing the Baltimore Orioles is rich with tradition. Some of the best managers in our game have occupied this spot over the years and so when we are approaching, um, ***, *** higher *** process like this, it is *** full organizational effort and it’s something that. We put every bit of our capability behind and and and do our best to. Get get it right and have it be something that’s going to impact the organization for *** long time and and create *** lot of stability around the organization and um I wanna acknowledge all of uh the baseball ops and other aspects of this organization ownership so much of our. Leadership getting involved in this decision and what was *** very thorough process and *** very extensive search. I also wanna thank uh the Cleveland organization, the Guardians, Chris Antonetti, Stephen Vogt. I think it’s amazing that you came all the way across country, uh, to be *** part of this press conference and um the graciousness they afforded us in, uh, giving us time to talk to Craig as we also talked to many other candidates. This, this is *** process that takes several weeks, um, if not more than that requires every resource that the department. Has at its availability and um you know we are absolutely elated to welcome Craig to the organization. Craig is somebody that’s built *** very strong coaching career and *** reputation as one of the up and coming managerial talents but also overall coaching and player development talents in the sport now for for several years. um, there are many things that attracted to him us to him in this position. I think *** big one is the places that he’s worked. I mean, it starts with Cleveland and the fact that he spent the last two seasons very successfully as right hand man to one of the best managers in the game right now, um, but also having worked with the Tampa Bay Rays, San Francisco Giants, and Cleveland demonstrating the ability to transition successfully across those organizations, learn from those organizations. Uh, and all the knowledge and skill that he’s built up through his catching and playing career, but also minor league manager career major league coaching career, um, you know, there, there’s *** lot there we feel that he’s ready to hit the ground running. We feel like we have *** team that has *** really good shot to bounce back next year and be *** team that can make the playoffs but also hopefully make *** deep playoff run and in pursuit of *** World Series and. I think and our department thinks that Craig is the right leader for the next phase of this team and it’s maturation, um, but also for the 2026 season and beyond so um we’re super excited to introduce him today we have *** lot of work to get to this offseason. He’s gonna join with the. Front office and uh making those moves and assessing how we wanna navigate this offseason but um you know we’re already working full steam ahead on our very long agenda of offseason business so uh without further ado, and we’ll take questions. I would love to uh present Craig with his first Orioles jersey and hat and, uh, turn it over to him. Ready, awesome. Thank I had Oh, good size and thread. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Before we get into questions, uh, statement. Yeah. Thanks, Mike. Appreciate those kind words. Um, thank you for the process and your whole group, front office group. It was great to connect with them, get to know them, um, and that’s why I just made this decision. Easy on my part was you and your group and how easy it was to navigate those conversations. David, thank you for this opportunity to talk with you and, and obviously Michael Araghetti as well. Thank you for the opportunity. Um, also the Cleveland Guardians for allowing me to even pursue this, Chris Antonetti, Mike Chernoff, Matt Forman in particular, um, Stephen Bo, it’s not. I want to get emotional I’m an emotional guy, but it’s not every day you get to work with one of your good friends in this game and share the dugout with them, um, and learn *** lot, learn *** lot every step of the way for me to be able to take this job. So, Bodie, thank you. Two time manager year coming up. I’ll plug that for you right now. Um, obviously my mom and dad, my sister would not be here with them, my upbringing, the sacrifices they made since I was young in this game of baseball, and obviously you can’t, I can’t do this without my beautiful wife, Genevieve. As you can hear my kids, you’ll get to know them really, you get to know them well this year. Um, CJ, Norman, and Gigi. I love you guys and thank you. Uh, I’m just excited. This is *** dream come true for me. Um, you know, when you start coaching, You don’t think about being *** big league manager, at least I didn’t, but as you navigate your relationships, navigate certain teams, and you can kind of see that’s something that you want to do and, and *** goal you want to obtain and to do it in such *** historic franchise as the Baltimore Orioles, it really is *** dream come true. And I just can’t wait for the fans to come out. To watch our boys compete because we’re gonna play *** very exciting brand of baseball and as Mike alluded to, it’s gonna be *** great bounce back year for this group and I can’t wait. I’m excited. Thank you. We’re at this time, we’re gonna open it up to questions. Um, if you have questions, just please raise your hand. We’ll try to get you *** mic. Um, when you introduce yourself, please, um, let Craig know who you are, who you work for, um, and then who your question is for. Rocka Botko with Masson, uh, Craig, how much of Cleveland specifically are you bringing to Baltimore here? How much of what worked with the Guardians do you think you could implement here to make it work? Yeah, I think it’s player dependent, right? And I think it depends on the players, um, and that’s one thing that Cleveland does really well and the same thing with the Tampa Bay Rays, it’s the player personnel you have. I think you guys, everyone in Baltimore can see the Baltimore Ravens and what John Harbor has done, you know, with going from Joe Flacco to Lamar Jackson. I mean that’s *** big change and I think the best coaches, the best managers in this game, they adapt to the players around them. They don’t have one set way of doing things and that’s the way I see this is, you know, myself and the coaching staff are gonna really hone in on our players’ strengths. And yes, we’re going to, you know, help them develop the weaknesses, but we just want to bring out their player strengths and let it shine. Josh Tolentino with the uh Baltimore Sun, uh, welcome to Baltimore, Craig uh question for Mike, uh, at what point during the interview process did you know, uh, Craig was your guy? Was it something, uh, he said, or, you know, someone that you might have spoken to on background? At what point did you know he was the guy to lead the, the OS? You know, it, it, it happens fairly quickly in my experience, you know, the, um, you go into *** process for *** high, high level position like *** major league manager, um, you are by nature gonna get encountered with *** candidate pool that’s extremely oppressive across the board and, um, just people that come in different shapes and sizes and profiles, so to speak, but everyone is really highly qualified or they wouldn’t have made it into *** process like that so you meet *** lot of impressive people but. Um, sitting down with Craig and hearing the feedback that we got from the many other people that interviewed him, it was clear that this was just *** really good fit all around, uh, like I said, the places he, he’s worked. Uh, the kind of philosophies that he’s developed, I think his personality and personal style will be *** really good fit for what our group needs but also in this, in this town and in this, this market, so, um, just an all around fit and I was very struck by him, uh, you know, once we got done spending the first day with him, um, but we continue to spend many more days and weeks completing the process but also doing *** lot of background work which was also very helpful for his case. He said sizes too, so, probably on the short side of the candidate pool. Thanks, Mike. Jakerell with MLB.com. Uh, Craig, you said you agree with Mike that you think this team can bounce back next year. What would you just like about this team on paper, the roster and why do you feel like this team could bounce back next year? The talent just jumps right at you. I mean, even playing them this year, like, yeah, it was *** down year, *** lot of injuries, but the talent up and down the roster is, is impressive. And when you have *** group of young players that get to the big leagues and have success like in 23. And they have *** rough 25. Like, it’s really tough to curate that adversity for young players to go through. And so for them to have it happen on the biggest stage, again, dealing with the injuries, you know, um. I wouldn’t say poor performance, but, you know, they could perform better in their eyes. Um, so it’s great to see that the work they’re put in this offseason to come out next year and really take on that challenge. Jerry Coleman with the Bay 100.7. I have *** question. Question for Mike and for Mr. Rubenstein, uh, Mike, first of all, in terms of the coaching staff, have you notified notified people of their position, guys that were with the team, and is Craig gonna be allowed to bring in his own staff, uh, Mr. Rubenstein, my question to you is *** little deeper in terms of going forward. We haven’t heard from you in *** while, so I think the. I want to know in terms of what your plan is and spending and and making this ball club and then the experience *** lot better there is some skepticism out there because we haven’t heard from you in quite some time so I know the fans are anxious. I make speeches every day somewhere. I mean, I don’t know people think I’m talking too much usually, but OK, why don’t we answer the first question first to the coaching staff, uh. In the background there’s *** lot of activity and work going on on that front, um, different conversations happening with different. Returning coaches or coaches that are still in the organization, not really the time or place to get in all that, but suffice to say there will be alterations to the composition of the staff that’s normal year to year, but also when you have *** manager change, uh, we definitely want the ability for him to put his stamp on the staff. I think *** big. Part of our hire and knowing the the the talent uh that we’re bringing into the organization with with *** guy like Craig Albanez is we want him to ply his trade and have an impact uh uh in the clubhouse on the field with the way that our team. Prepares, trains, competes, and part of that is choosing some staff members around you. So, um, we’re collaborating together on it, but it’s, um, something that, uh, I want, I want him to be able to shape and, um, you know, we’ll, we’ll handle that business the next few weeks as best we can. to answer your question, uh, we don’t have particular constraints. Uh, we’re gonna try to get the best players we can. Um, Mike is leading that effort and he’s already talked about *** number of possibilities with, with us, um, but I wanna just talk about our new manager, uh. Mike interviewed *** number of people, so did I and um from the beginning when we were talking to people, people said, well this person you’re interviewing is good, but if you can get Craig you really be, you know, fortunate. Everybody kept saying he’s the guy you should get you may not be lucky enough to get him, but if you can get him that’s the guy you want. So when we talked to him we realized why everybody said that he’s very impressive. Um, despite his accent, we think he can learn how to speak Baltimorese, and, uh, we also thought he had by far the the cutest two year old daughter in Major League Baseball, and she’s here and the star of the show, so, um, and his great sons as well, so, uh, we’re really excited um to have him here um if you read about his background, he’s been *** leader everywhere he’s ever been. People always say he’s *** take charge person who has made every organization he’s been at better because he was there, so we were thrilled when he agreed to accept the offer and we’re looking forward to many, many years with him and us so uh you know we, we are now going to spend *** lot of time. Uh, seeing what is out there and what are the players we can bring to the team and, and strengthen the team. Last year we had *** lot of injuries. I think in Major League Baseball history, virtually nobody had as many players on *** roster as we did. I think we had 70 players at one point on that roster. I think the record was like 71 in the history of baseball. So 70 people played on our roster at one point, so it’s *** lot of injuries. It’s not likely we’re gonna have that again so we get *** healthy team and some of the players we’re gonna add, uh, and the great manager we have I think we’re in pretty good shape. Remember Toronto was in last place the year before they went to the World Series. They were in last place before they went to the World Series, so you can come back from the bottom and uh we expect to do that. Craig, welcome to Baltimore. Matt Wire Baltimore Sun. What’s the culture that you plan to build here within the clubhouse and the your side of the baseball operations and where do you kind of pull the experience from with working with the young players and getting the most out of them? Yeah, the culture is set by the players. Um, us as *** coaching staff, front office, we support the players, you know, at the end of the day, Coaches don’t play, front office members don’t play. The players play in between the lines. It’s all about the boys, um, and that’s something that will drive that culture is the players in that clubhouse and we’re gonna be there to support them every step of the way. um, you know, I’m *** firm, I’m *** firm believer in leadership comes in different ways and, and styles. You don’t have to be *** veteran to be *** leader. You could be *** young guy and everyone leads by example or leads in their own way. And so it’s up to me to, to figure out way, which, how each player ticks, get to know him, and then allow them to go out and play carefree baseball. Hi Craig, Kyle Goon with the Baltimore Banner. Welcome to Baltimore. Thank you. Um, two questions about your approach. Uh, I know this is hopefully not too sprawling, but you know what is your approach to analytics and and data that’s gonna be offered to you by, um, you know, analytics staffers and. It’s been almost *** decade or I think more than *** decade since the Orioles’ last playoff win, um, even though they’ve had some very successful regular seasons. What in your view is the most important component to *** successful playoff team? Yeah, um, the first question is I love the information. I want all the information, um. You know, it’s those data points have been available for years now like batting average, ERA that’s all data points, but now like you can now get *** little bit granular and you know there’s better information and me and my coaching staff, we’re gonna want that information, but it’s only *** piece of the puzzle, you know, I talk about it in like you’re trying to place good bets on the field, um, that those numbers, those data points help you place those bets, but it’s not *** 100% certainty. You know, at the end of the day, the players go out and play like I talked about before. So it’s equipping them with the right information at the right time, that’s digestible, but also getting the players’ feedback and listen to your players, you know, because certain things might not land for the player or, you know, there’s other. Aspects of the game that’s, that’s going on with the player and you have to, that’s why you have to know the player. So analytics is just ***, is *** piece of, of how we’re gonna go about our business in the clubhouse and on the field. Um, to your second point. Baseball’s hard. It’s such *** hard game, and there’s no level above this. Some players should get called up to the next level, but there’s no level above this. So, you know, like Michael, like David alluded to with the Blue Jays, like you just don’t know. And that’s the beauty of baseball. Like you can have like *** 162 game season is the toughest thing to navigate in sports. Um, even the Dodgers this year, like they spend all that money. Yes, they won the World Series, but. It was *** grind for them to get there. It wasn’t *** cakewalk through the 162 game season. So for us, it’s just taking one day at *** time, try to win today and have our players get better each day and then we look up at 162. You know, hopefully we punch our ticket into the playoffs and then, then anything can happen. And the Baltimore uh nice to meet you. And I’m curious, you said you want to play *** very exciting brand of baseball. Can you dive into what the offensive philosophy is for your club? Obviously it’s gonna be dictated *** little bit by players and and coaching staff, but how do you envision that looking? Yeah, I mean, I think if you watch the game of baseball, you have to have *** diverse offense. I mean, I think anyone would want any of their teams to go out and hit 10 home runs *** night. You can sign me up for that, but like I said, this is *** hard game. So for us we have to be *** diverse offense, um, you know, we have to do the little things right, you know, when guys are struggling or going through *** little rut, like you have to find *** way to keep the line moving and be productive for the, for your team and, and, and for the organization. So that’s something we’re gonna preach about just being *** more diverse offense and so we’re gonna have *** number of ways to beat you. Hi, um, Oh hi Craig. I’m *** good team player. Nice job, man. I’m, uh, Rich Dubra from Baltimore Baseball.com, uh. When you watched this team, when you watch this team play, and I know you didn’t get to see him play after the trade deadline, but I assume you’ve been watching *** lot of tape of them, uh, in the last in the last few weeks, what stood out to you and what from watching that do you see should be and can be improved? Um, I mean, the athleticism just jumps out at you and this is sure talented on this roster and you know, like I said previously. It was *** tough year for *** lot of those guys and they got, you know, they got went through some adversity. So, you know, these guys bouncing back like they’re gonna have *** little chip on the shoulder and it’s already going into the offseason with the way these guys are working. Um, so for me it’s just making sure me and my coaching staff put these guys in the best chance to succeed and let their let their talents come to fruition and we’re gonna double down on this ranks and what makes them great. But also we’re gonna, we’re gonna talk to the players and listen to them, you know, like I said, the players play. And it’ll be, it’ll be tough for us as *** coach staff to come in and dictate how we want things done at the players are gonna lead that and it will be *** collaborative effort with the players and our coaching staff and also with the front office because that’s what high functioning organizations do. It’s *** collaborative effort across the board, you know, because we’re all here to support our players and our players have to feel that and they will. Hi Craig Steve Molesky with SubStack. You, um, have the reputation of helping keep teams loose, you know, even going back to your minor league managing days. Uh, when you’re the manager of *** major league team, can you still do that? How will you do that? And, and how does that balance with the tough conversations you may have to have during the course of the season? Yeah, um, it’s funny when I first started coaching in the minor leagues, I remember talking to my wife Genevieve of like. Now that I’m *** coach, so I have to change who I am. I have to change the music I listen to, and it was just, just *** joke and laughing, but I’m just gonna be me. That’s all I know. um, you know, players, players wanna know who’s in their corner that’s authentic and real and they need *** sounding board and someone that they can, they can talk to. And like, yeah, tough conversations always happen. Like you, you, it’s *** part of the game. Um, I’m not scared to have *** tough conversation, do it all the time, but when it comes from *** place of, of truth. And *** place of care and love, like you have to have those tough conversations and like Joe Maddon said it, you know, years ago that you tell the player the truth, he might be mad at you for *** day if you lie to him you lost him forever. So that’s something where we have to be truthful and honest, but also, yeah, I’m gonna keep it loose it’s baseball, you know, with each other 162 games, uh, uh, for the season, um, we’re with each other more than our families, and it’s baseball and guys play at the best when they’re having fun and just playing the kids game. Hi Craig, Chelsea from The Washington Post. Nice to meet you and welcome you um wanted to quickly ask, I know you go back with Blake Buttera what did you think of seeing him get hired and if you guys had any conversations about, uh, managing so close to one another in your first years here? I am so proud of Blake. It’s I’m more. I couldn’t be. I’m more proud of Blake for getting that job than me sitting here, which is crazy to say, um, you know, me and Blake have ***, *** close relationship, uh, when he first, when he first got drafted as *** player, that’s my first year of coaching was on the same team. My first year manager in minor leagues was his first year of coaching. We were together on the same staff. Um, I, I’m just so pumped for him and Caroline, um, yeah, it’s. Don’t want to get emotional, but yeah, I’m I’m just proud of him, just, uh, you know, being so young at 33 and taking that job, we talk every day, um, so it’s we were keeping each other in *** loop at every step of the way and I couldn’t be prouder to be his friend. Uh, Peter Schmuck, uh, Baltimore Baseball.com, uh, question for Mike. I’m sure you watched, uh, some of the World Series if you had time. Um, is there you, you guys acknowledge that, you know, obviously the Blue Jays went from last to first and that, you know, that that that makes, uh, illustrates as possible. Is there anything else from the way they played and against pretty high odds going into the series? Um, that you can take away the construction of the team or the manner in which they played and apply here, the Blue Jays, right? Well, I was, it was impressive. I mean, yeah, I, I watched the World Series. It was an incredible historic World Series with *** couple of the best games, uh, that we’ve ever had, and, um, it was exciting to see and, um, as David alluded to, I think it honestly, I think it speaks to the strength of our division. Everyone talks about the American League East gets *** little tired after *** while, but. Um, we, we have 5 really good teams and really good organizations in this division right now, and there’s no one rebuilding, you know, everybody’s going for it, and so we all kind of get into the cage match every year and see what happens and I, I thought it was ***, um, *** very talented team. It has been *** very talented team even last year when they just things didn’t work out too well for them. Um, but I think what they demonstrated is the right mix made some changes and they were able to kind of replace the, the mojo that they’ve been lacking the last couple of years and that team was really close and played with *** lot of flow all year round, but you know our team played really well against the Blue Jays in 2025 and it just goes to show how close the talent level is and remains in this division so um we’re gonna lean on Craig and the coaching staff and, and. The moves that we make this winter and hopefully get things into *** much better place, very confident that we will let me just add that uh I went to the opening game in Toronto and we won that game last year, uh, the way game, and I said, well, I feel bad for the Toronto they’re not that good *** team, but obviously, um, um, on my perceptions of who’s *** good and bad team is probably not so great, but what the World Series showed to me. Is that baseball retains its um hold on the American public. The fan viewership of that series was spectacular. The numbers are very, very good, and shows when you have really great baseball, American people really wanna watch it and people overseas too enormous amount of overseas attention. So baseball, while people have criticized it over the years as being somewhat um. Left behind in terms of football or basketball, the truth is the American people have *** feel for baseball and *** love for baseball that was typified by the viewership of that World Series and that hopefully will bring *** lot of that uh to the team this year. We have, uh, as we go into the new season we’re as you can see we’re constructing uh some changes in. In Camden and Camden Yards, these will make the, I think the the place even better. It’s more than 30 years old, so we’re making some changes. We’ll have some premier seats as other stadiums do. It’s the, it’s the, uh, uh, semiquincentennial year, so it’ll be *** big celebration, *** lot of games for the 250th anniversary of the country. I like to remind people all the time that at every game, Major League Baseball, people are singing *** song that was crafted in Baltimore. And so Baltimore has great roots in baseball and great roots in our country’s history, and I think in the next year, uh, we’re gonna have *** great team, have some new players, *** great new manager, and I hope all of you will, uh, be here to enjoy it. Cordell Woodland from 1057, the fan, uh, Craig, welcome to Baltimore. This question is for Mike. Mike, I’m just, this is now your third manager I guess if you counted Madaino with the interim tag last year, how will, how different will your day to day interactions be with Craig compared to the previous two, whether that’s more support and more dialogue or maybe less and, you know, giving him that that space to do his own thing. It’s *** very close working relationship GM manager. I mean it’s, it’s, uh, extraordinarily close and communicative, very important for me uh recognizing that fact and, and the degree of communication and collaboration that’s required for *** successful partnership. That you feel some personal rapport with the person that you’re hiring and making sure that that communication is gonna come naturally and so you know that’s something that that you you look for in this process too but um it is ***. If done right, you know, it’s *** huge extension of the front office, but it’s also *** position that provides *** lot of balance and, and, uh, *** check on the front office and so you, um, uh, in, in Craig’s case really value the experience that he’s had at three different organizations and the type of perspective that he’s built that’s gonna help us kind of collaborate on our decision making process in *** healthy way. Hey, hey, Greg Jacob Meyer from the Baltimore Sun, congrats. Um, I know you mentioned it in your opening statement, but how much does your family mean to you and, and how has that changed being *** father? How, how has that changed you as *** person and, and maybe also as *** coach? Yeah, I mean. My kids are the greatest gifts I can ever ever have, um. They, I love you too, Gigi. I love you guys. Yeah, they keep me grounded, you know, they don’t care if we win or lose, except for CJ. He’s, he’s locked in, he’s invested, but Yeah, when you have kids you just change your whole the whole perspective of, of life and and the game of baseball, not in ***. Like it, it wasn’t in *** negative way before, but you just hold. OK, here we go. Here’s the real star IGG. You wanna say with Daddy? OK, OK. You say hi, but yeah, it’s just, it’s. It makes life so much more enjoyable than having them around the field. Um, they’ll be around *** lot, so get used to it. Yeah, they like to be hitting the cage and stuff, so it’s just, it’s just great. Thank you. And then obviously my wife Genevieve, I don’t know how she does it with 3 kids. Well, I’m doing this, so she’s *** real rock star of the family. Hi Greg Briciroli with the Athletic. Congratulations. Thank you. Um, you were involved in previous years processes with Chicago and Miami. I’m wondering what specifically about this job made it the right fit for you and, and did you feel like at the time you needed to go back in the dugout with Steven and get more experience? I mean, what, what was that process like because you were involved, um, and, and close to becoming *** manager at other places? Yeah, I think, you know, last year was more to do with. Where I was at right in Cleveland just being around obviously one of your one of your good friends and and learning in Cleveland and also you know being around the front office and and learning more you know I think that point in time, you know, I felt like I was ready but you know deep down you’re just kind of like when you want to take that next step, you know, it’s *** it’s *** big job and I wanna make sure that whatever organization I go to I was like really ready to to jump in and dive in and. You know, going through the process, you know, with Mike and meeting David and the rest of the team in the front office, it was to me it was an easy decision, um, getting to know everyone. I mean, I would, I would probably think that Mike would tell you that, um, you probably wish I was *** little more. Little pep in my step as they say with the process, but you know I was kind of just being, you know, very thorough and you know, looping in, you know, the people that I surround myself with to get their input and you know as you go through it, it just the clarity just became true that you know I wanna be in Baltimore and be in Baltimore Oriole and be in this organization and and and being in being in that that dugout with with those group of players. Thanks, CJ. Hi Craig, over here, Pete Gilbert with WBALT. Welcome and Gigi, of course, welcome as well. Hi Gigi. Oh, thank you. Um, as *** non MLB player, it’s not obviously new to be *** manager in that role, but what have you learned about having not gotten to the big leagues but dealing with these the best athletes in the world and getting them to listen to you in that relationship and building with that? How does, what have you learned about doing that? Yeah, um. Players just want to be coached and that’s what I learned uh players just want to get better even if they play, you know, the reason why guys play 10 years in the big leagues is because they continually get better, um, and for me, OK, let me finish up OK, um, and so, and players just wanna know that. They have, you have the right interests in mind and to get them better. There’s no ulterior motives, you know, they want to all players wanna make as much money as they can and they want coaches in the corner and people in the corner that can help them do that, um, and also by turn it helps them, you know, helps the team they’re with win *** lot, *** lot of games and you know players see through when you’re being fake, um, so you have to be *** truth teller you have to be authentic to yourself. And that’s something that I pride myself on ever since I first started coaching, and that’s something that’s never gonna change. And I would point out that we had another manager who’s in the Hall of Fame who never played in the major leagues named Earl Weaver and um Earl Weaver was also uh not *** tall person he’s actually shorter than our new manager. You said it right he was yeah he was 2 inches shorter, so, um, being under under 6 ft and, uh, not having played in the major leagues is not *** big problem. Craig Johnoli with the Baltimore Banner, welcome. You’ve mentioned *** couple times listening to the players and taking their feedback. If you’ve had *** chance to speak to some of the players on this roster, what has their message and what they feel like they need from you going to be? And if you haven’t had *** chance to really get to know them at the level you want, what is the plan to do that? Yeah, I think I talked about 67 of the players. So my kids put me up to it, um. No, I think I, I’ve, I’ve reached probably reached out like 67 of them, to be honest with you, um, and it’s just to get to know them, obviously introduce myself and, and get to know who they are and come to find out *** couple of our guys, either have fiances or wives with the two first names. So that’s fun to see, um, but yeah, I think right now it’s just obviously it’s been chaos in the, in the best way possible, you know, the past, you know, week or so, and so now I’m just trying to dive in with the players and get to know them. We haven’t really shared too much about, you know, what’s gonna take place on the field in in spring training and like I said, just try to get to know them, get to know how they tick, and then we can kind of dive in as the as the offseason moves along. Nick Tetoni, uh, WBAO radio over here, Craig, uh, congratulations. Thank you. Uh, with your minor league career primarily as *** catcher, uh, just curious on your thoughts of your two primary catchers you’re going to be having in Baltimore and Adley Rutman and Samuel Basayo. Yeah, I’m excited, um, you know, Adley and and Basayo both have *** ton of talent, um, obviously Basayo, you know, coming in like. With relatively, you know, not *** lot of experience at the big league level, but you can see the talent just, just jump right out you and, and Adley has, you know, made his name known even before he got to the big leagues and, you know, his pedigree behind the plate. And so that’s something that, you know, obviously I’m biased towards catching, um, and, you know, having *** great, *** great tandem behind the plate, you know, should help us, you know, win *** lot of games itself and with those two guys, like I’m gonna. I’m gonna lean on him *** lot. I’m gonna give him *** lot of information as far as how to help lead this team our pitching staff, and, you know, and all and also hold the the coaches accountable, you know, because, uh, the high functioning team, those catchers are involved in *** lot of the processes and you want to get *** lot of the feedback and that’s something that I’m gonna really lean on them throughout the course of the year. Hey Craig, Luke Jones WNST welcome. uh, this question is for you and for Mike, you’re obviously coming from *** team that reputation for having excellent defense last couple years, especially, um, in your conversations and going through through this process, how much was defense talked about? I mean, you alluded to the athleticism of the players, but at least with some of the public facing metrics defensively, this club hasn’t been as good the last couple years. How much of *** priority is defense and improving that here? Yeah, um, I think in any baseball team defense should be *** priority, um, you know, ball security, making the right decisions, you know, 1st and 3rd defense. I mean, if you watch the World Series game, especially game 7, there was *** lot of, you know, baseball plays that happen and if you don’t take pride in those aspects of the game. You know, that’s how you lose that game and like that comes with PFPs controlling the running game, all that little stuff that’s something that that we’re gonna be doing *** lot of in spring training because these guys are so talented they’re gonna work religiously with our hitting coaches, you know, and our pitches are gonna work on their shapes, but when it comes to the baseball side of things, that’s something that you can control as *** player and as *** coaching staff, and that’s something that’s gonna be at the forefront. Craig, uh, Stan Charles with press box. David mentioned Earl Weaver and Earl’s autobiography was entitled It’s What You Learn After You Know It All That Counts, and he was *** big believer in that, uh, as *** mantra. Does that resonate with you at all? Yeah, because I don’t know it all. I know for *** fact that I am by far not the smartest person, um, in baseball, and that’s why I like to lean on everyone around me, um, coaching staff, players, front office, you know, everyone has an input, everyone has *** say in, in kind of what we do on the field, and I need all that input from me and that feedback because sometimes you get *** little too close to the action and your views get *** little jaded and you need the checks and balances of either. Like I said, the coaching staff are front office members as well. They kind of, you know, keep the main thing, the main thing, and, and that’s something I’m really gonna rely on is *** collaborative effort. Hi Craig Morgan Adsit with Fox 45. Welcome. Congrats. You’ve talked about what the roster talent currently has. We know it will be evolving. What are some of the wish list needs you would like to see for your roster when you do see them in February, March? Yeah. Whatever Mike wants to cook up. That’s what Mike does basketball in the offseason cook. Um, no, I trust Mike, I trust his group. Uh, for me as *** manager of the team, it’s all about the who the players are in the clubhouse. You know, I’m not gonna, you know, talk about who we should get. That’s not my job. That’s Mike’s job. He’s pretty good at it, actually really good at it. Please, Mike, OK, um, but no, like, uh, my job is just the players in the clubhouse, so you know, whoever’s in there, we’re gonna pour into them and get the most out of them. Uh, Josh Tolentino again with the Baltimore Sun, this question is for uh David. Late late remix your mic, I’m sorry. You close the mic what’s the question? Yeah, question for David. um, late in the season, uh, we found out, uh, Mike had been, uh, promoted, um, that *** move that wasn’t initially, uh, publicized. This is our first time, uh, speaking with you since, um, in your mind, what did he do to, uh, warrant that despite the, the team, uh, still waiting on *** postseason. Uh, breakthrough and and part two of that question just what excites you most about the pairing of Craig and Mike as Mike said they’ll be working together very closely. Well, on the second part of your question, um, Mike, uh, talked to *** few people, and he was extremely excited about, uh, Craig, and, and when I talked to him I was as well, so was Mike Arrigetti. And so we think it’s *** great combination they they get along well um so it was something where nobody said this was *** mistake everybody we talked to said you’re lucky if you can get him, but you won’t be able to get him because I think he’d had *** number of other managerial offers and he turned them down so um it wasn’t that easy to get persuade him to do this so we were able to do it and we’re very fortunate. On Mike, uh, you know, Mike was American League, uh, executive of the year *** few years ago, um, he knows baseball inside out, um, he’s, uh, shy and doesn’t like to promote himself, so we didn’t make *** big announcement about it, but, uh, Mike, uh, deserves everything that he has received from the Orioles. He’s done *** spectacular job, and we have great confidence in him, uh, for many, many years into the future. Craig, um, one of the questions, um, Mike faced *** lot in this process was, are you gonna bring in somebody with experience? You obviously are entering your first major league managerial job but how much did your time in Cleveland under Steven here enable you to kind of see through the managerial lens and give you the experience to put you in *** position to be ready for this opportunity? Yeah, I’m forever grateful for, for Vody. I mean, being in Cleveland with that group with Chris, Mike and Matt and obviously working alongside of Vody. You know, they brought me into pretty much every meeting, every conversation they had, so I got to see the like the inner works and all those conversations what really goes into being *** big league manager. It’s not just being in *** dugout with, with the coaching staff and the boys it’s *** lot of your day is consumed by what happens before the game. So we kind of get to see that like really opened up my eyes and and being able to navigate those conversations and then also know there’s the leader that Body is the communicator, um, with the coaching staff and the players and. You know how he goes about just being *** great person who he is and that’s something that that I learned from him and that’s something I’m forever grateful for. Time for one more question. Uh, Jerry Coleman from over at the Borre Baseball podcast in the bay, it’s for you, Mr. Rubenstein. Uh, after referencing the World Series and what the Blue Jays were able to accomplish going from last to first and also what the Dodgers did *** lot of talk about spending. These are two of the top 5, I think, spending in all of baseball. Does that mean that’s what the Orioles have to do in your mind? I know you’ve referenced the salary cap in the past because it just feels like that’s the way baseball is headed. There’s no doubt that *** lot of attention has been paid to that. We have the resources to acquire the players that we need to make the team work, so we don’t have particular financial constraints. We have an investor group that’s pretty deep pocketed and so we’re able to do what we need to do and so we will do that. Mike has *** lot of authority to go out and find the best players that we can get. And of course it’s not always the case that the highest payroll wins um clearly uh the last couple of years that’s probably been the case but that’s not always the case and so uh we don’t feel we need to break records uh by setting *** payroll records, but we think we want to get good players who want to be part of an organization that really is very cohesive part of helping to rebuild Baltimore. Baltimore itself is *** very exciting place to live and. We’re on the rebound. We think the organization is going to be much better next year because of the stadium is gonna excite *** lot of fans. We’ve got *** lot of things going on in Baltimore and so, uh, we, we are gonna rely on *** lot on what Mike and his team can do, uh, with, with, with Craig finding good players that want to be here and they can complement what we already have. So, um, we’re looking forward to the new season. I hope I’ll see some of you down in spring training. And uh you know we’re we’re we’re very excited about the new year and I particularly want to thank uh Craig for bringing his family and uh Genevieve, would you like to say anything you like to say anything? No, no, no, you wanna come up here and say anything? No, OK, so we have uh *** great new addition to the Orioles family with *** great family and, uh, no doubt the star is, uh, his daughter, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing much of her during the season. So, um, thank you all very much for coming and uh thank you for coming and thank uh your family for coming and thank the Cleveland Guardians for letting you show up here. I hope you don’t get in trouble for for doing that and uh thank you all for organizing this. Thank you. You’re the manager yeah you can do whatever you want right thanks guys. Thank you.
Baltimore Orioles introduce new manager Craig Albernaz, vision for the future
Updated: 1:07 PM EST Nov 4, 2025
The Baltimore Orioles announced their new manager Craig Albernaz in an introductory press conference on Tuesday.The 43-year-old, who is originally from Fall River, Massachusetts, will be a manager for the first time after spending time with the Cleveland Guardians, San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays as a coach. He was most recently the Associate Manager for the Guardians the past two seasons and was a manager at the Minor league level for the Rays.Albernaz chose Baltimore after he reportedly turned down a pair of jobs during last season’s hiring period. He has been a hot name among potential managers, even winning the 2018 Midwest League Manager of the Year while with the Rays organization. That would propel him to coaching at the major league level, and after 11 seasons coaching he will get his first chance with the Orioles. He was a catcher who spent nine seasons in the minor leagues, but never made it to the Majors. He was undrafted out of Eckerd College and was signed by the Rays and was known for his ability to throw out runners with his strong arm. He ended his playing career with the Detroit Tigers organization in 2014 and began his coaching career immediately after retiring.
BALTIMORE —
The Baltimore Orioles announced their new manager Craig Albernaz in an introductory press conference on Tuesday.
The 43-year-old, who is originally from Fall River, Massachusetts, will be a manager for the first time after spending time with the Cleveland Guardians, San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays as a coach. He was most recently the Associate Manager for the Guardians the past two seasons and was a manager at the Minor league level for the Rays.
Albernaz chose Baltimore after he reportedly turned down a pair of jobs during last season’s hiring period. He has been a hot name among potential managers, even winning the 2018 Midwest League Manager of the Year while with the Rays organization. That would propel him to coaching at the major league level, and after 11 seasons coaching he will get his first chance with the Orioles.
He was a catcher who spent nine seasons in the minor leagues, but never made it to the Majors. He was undrafted out of Eckerd College and was signed by the Rays and was known for his ability to throw out runners with his strong arm. He ended his playing career with the Detroit Tigers organization in 2014 and began his coaching career immediately after retiring.
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