MIKE BURKE

Allegany Communications Sports

The Baltimore Orioles introduced their new manager on Tuesday, Craig Albernaz, who for the past two seasons was bench coach and associate manager for Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt.

Albernaz is a former minor league catcher, who has worked his way up in the game as one of the most respected, hardest-working and likable coaches in baseball, having also held important roles for the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Francisco Giants.

Other than that, don’t know much about him other than everybody really, really likes Craig Albernaz, including Cleveland manager Vogt, who likes him so much he came to Baltimore on Tuesday for Albernaz’s introductory media gathering, which, to say the least, is not ordinary. But then, these are no ordinary times for the Orioles and President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias.

To review … just in case you forgot, or chose to forget, the Orioles were supposed to be big man on campus in the American League East last season, and maybe in the entire American League. Instead, they’re still looking for their first postseason win since 2014 and finished the season in last place. And it wasn’t even close.

The Orioles have regressed, while the rest of the division is getting better, as the last two pennant winners came from the AL East. The window is ever so steadily closing, as the Orioles are dangerously close to seeing their entire rebuild to contention not make it to the window.

All of those young players – Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, et al. – are starting to get older and more expensive, which means the Orioles are on a running clock, particularly since they trashed the 2025 season.

Everyone knows the Orioles’ roster needs help, preferably a veteran right-handed hitting outfielder with pop and leadership skills and a bullpen, including a legitimate closer. But what they really need is starting pitching, which is what we were saying at this time last year.

Elias had real spending power and the owner/controlling partner’s blessing to spend last year for his first time in Baltimore, and he signed seven free agents for a combined $105.25 million, delivering outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Ramon Laureano, pitchers Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Gibson, reliever Andrew Kittredge and catcher Gary Sanchez.

Yes, that was the sound of the needle scratching the record you just heard.

One year and a last-place finish later, Elias once more has the dough and the blessing of Orioles owner/controlling partner David Rubenstein, who said at the Albernaz news conference, “We have no particular financial restraints,” and that Orioles ownership is “an investor group that’s pretty deep-pocketed.”

“We are relying on what Mike and his team can do to find good players that want to be here and that can complement what we already have,” he said.

It’s early in free agency, of course, but so far Mike and his team have brought Kittredge back, which is good, and signed Leody Taveras, who doesn’t carry a big bat, but has great speed and is an elite defensive outfielder, which is another need the Orioles had but is likely not what the deep-pocketed owners and most assuredly the fans have in mind.

Rubenstein has made the “no financial restraints” comments before, pointing out that at age 76, he’s not getting any younger. So that he keeps saying these same things into open microphones in Elias’ presence, is he sending not-so-subliminal messages to Elias (as in “Do better – much better.”) or is he just laying down some ownership P.R. bunk?

I tend to feel Rubenstein’s intentions are genuine, but there are skeptics who believe it’s P.R. bunk. There are also those who are skeptical of how serious the Orioles are about upping the payroll with their hiring of Albernaz, pointing out his pro baseball background has been built with small-market, low-budget teams (albeit very successful teams), with Tampa and Cleveland being as low-budget as it gets.

To those skeptics I ask, ever heard of Andrew Friedman? He is currently the president of baseball operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers. You’ve heard of the Dodgers …

Friedman previously served as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Rays and was named Sporting News Executive of the Year in 2008 when for the first time in franchise history, the Rays qualified for the playoffs and played in the World Series.

Since taking over the Dodgers in 2015, the team has won three World Series, five pennants and nine division titles. Baseball America has called the Dodgers the model franchise in baseball under Friedman’s tenure as president.

Working in a small market didn’t seem to damage Andrew Friedman. Seems he’s been able to adjust to having gobs of money to spend.

I think Craig Albernaz will be just fine.

The question is, will Mike Elias be just fine?

Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT