SARASOTA, Fla. — When the Orioles revamped their coaching staff under manager Craig Albernaz, there was not a position for Robinson Chirinos.
The longtime major league catcher served as a first-time bench coach for then-manager Brandon Hyde in 2025, but Chirinos departed Baltimore after the season and his role was filled by Donnie Ecker.
On Tuesday, however, the Orioles announced they were bringing Chirinos back to the organization as a special assistant for baseball operations and player development. The club said Chirinos will mainly support players, coaches and staff members across the lower levels of the minor leagues in a leadership and mentorship role, while also steering organizational philosophies.
Chirinos only played one of his 11 major league seasons in Baltimore, but he left an impact. He helped lead catcher Adley Rutschman during the hot prospect’s debut, and Chirinos was a sounding board for many players in the clubhouse even after he returned as a member of Hyde’s staff. The majority of Chirinos’ career came with the Texas Rangers, but he also appeared for the Houston Astros, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs prior to finishing his playing career with the Orioles.
Chirinos always seemed destined to become a coach, even while he played.
“Maybe in the future, I don’t know what God have for me, I would love to be a manager in the big leagues,” he said in 2023. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I care for people. I know about the game. To be able to continue to help people through the managing side I think is something I would love to do. But we’ll see.”
Former teammates, such as Adrian Beltré and Elvis Andrus, lauded Chirinos’ presence.
“He’s so happy when his teammate does something. It’s something you can’t fake,” Beltré said. “Elvis and I had a conversation about how great he’d be as a coach, because he’s smart, he knows the game, he analyzes things, he has patience. He cares about the people, so you could tell, from my opinion, he had everything back then.”