Chapter 1: Who are the key figures introduced at the press conference?
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 Albernaz. Before we get into today's program, I'd like to recognize a couple of people in the audience. First, Cleveland Guardians manager, Steven 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. Good morning, everybody, and thank you for coming. Big day for us and the organization.
So much to say about a hire like this and the importance of it. 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 a higher process like this, it is a full organizational effort and it's something that we put every bit of our capability behind and do our best to
get it right and have it be something that's going to impact the organization for a long time and create a lot of stability around the organization. And I want to acknowledge all of the baseball ops and other aspects of this organization, ownership, so much of our leadership getting involved in this decision in what was a very thorough process and a very extensive search.
I also want to thank the Cleveland organization, the Guardians, Chris Antonetti, Steven Vogt. I think it's amazing that you came all the way across country to be a part of this press conference. And the graciousness they afforded us in giving us time to talk to Craig as we also talk to many other candidates. This is a process that takes several weeks.
If not more than that, requires every resource that the department has at its availability. And we are absolutely elated to welcome Craig to the organization. Craig is somebody that's built a very strong coaching career and a reputation as one of the up and coming managerial talents, but also overall coaching and player development talents in the sport now for several years.
There were many things that attracted us to him in this position. I think a 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, 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, 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. There's a lot there. We feel that he's ready to hit the ground running. We feel like we have a team.
that has a really good shot to bounce back next year and be a team that can make the playoffs but also hopefully make a deep playoff run and in pursuit of a World Series and I think and our department thinks that Craig is the right leader for the next phase of this team and its maturation but also for the 2026 season and beyond. So we're super excited to introduce him today.
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Chapter 2: What insights does Mike Elias share about the hiring process?
Orioles jersey and hat and turn it over to him. Thanks, Mike. Appreciate those kind words. Thank you for the process and your whole group, front office group. It was great to connect with them, get to know them. And that's what just made this decision easy on my part, was you and your group and how easy. David, thank you for this opportunity.
Talking with you and obviously Michael Arrighetti as well. Thank you for the opportunity. Also, the Cleveland Guardians for allowing me to even pursue this. Chris Antonetti, Mike Chernoff, Matt Farmer in particular, Steven Vogt, 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 and learn a lot. Learn a lot every step of the way for me to be able to take this job. Two-time manager year coming up. I'll plug that for you right now. 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, I can't do this without my beautiful wife, Genevieve. As you can hear, my kids, you'll get to know them really, you'll get to know them well this year. CJ, Norman, and Gigi, I love you guys and thank you. I'm just excited, this is a dream come true for me. You know, when you start coaching,
You don't think about being a 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 a goal you want to obtain. And to do it in such a historic franchise as the Baltimore Orioles, it really is a 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 a very exciting brand of baseball, and as Mike alluded to, it's gonna be a great bounce back year for this group, and I can't wait, I'm excited. Thank you. At this time, we're gonna open it up to questions. If you have questions, just please raise your hand, we'll try to get you a mic.
When you introduce yourself, please let Craig know who you are, who you work for, and then who your question is for.
with Masson.
Craig, how much of Cleveland, specifically, are you bringing to Baltimore here? How much of what work with the Guardians do you think you can implement here to make it work? Yeah, I think it's player dependent, right? And I think it depends on the players. 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.
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Chapter 3: What qualities make Craig Albernaz a suitable manager for the Orioles?
If you read about his background, he's been a leader everywhere he's ever been. People always say he's a 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.
We are now gonna spend a lot of time seeing what is out there and what other players we can bring to the team and strengthen the team. Last year we had a lot of injuries. I think in Major League Baseball history, virtually nobody had as many players on a roster as we did. I think we had 70 players at one point on our roster. I think the record was like 71 in the history of baseball.
So 70 people played on our roster at one point, so that's a lot of injuries. It's not likely we're going to have that again. So if we get a healthy team, some of the players we're going to add, 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 we expect to do that. Craig, welcome to Baltimore. Matt Weir of the Baltimore Sun.
What's the culture?
that you plan to build here within the clubhouse and your side of the baseball operations? And where do you kind of pull the experience from with working with young players and getting the most out of them? Yeah, the culture is set by the players. Us as a 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. And that's something that will drive that culture is the players in that clubhouse. And we're going to be there to support them every step of the way. I'm a firm believer in leadership comes in different ways and styles.
You don't have to be a veteran to be a leader. You can be a young guy and everyone leads by example or leads in their own way. And so it's up to me to figure out how each player ticks, get to know them, and then allow them to go out and play carefree baseball.
Hi, Craig. Kyle Goon with the Baltimore Banner.
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Chapter 4: How does Craig plan to leverage his experience from Cleveland?
Say hi. No, thank you.
As a non-MLB player, it's not obviously new to be a manager in that role, but what have you learned about having not gotten to the big leagues but dealing with the best athletes in the world and getting them to listen to you and that relationship and building with that? What have you learned about doing that?
Yeah, players just want to be coached, and that's what I learned. 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. And for me, and players just want to know that, you have their right interests in mind and to get them better. There's no ulterior motives.
All players want to make as much money as they can, and they want coaches in their corner and people in their corner that can help them do that. And also, by turn, it helps the team they're with win a lot of games. And players see through when you're being fake. So you have to be a 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 going to change.
I would point out that we had another manager who was in the Hall of Fame who never played in the major leagues named Earl Weaver. And Earl Weaver was also not a tall person. He was actually shorter than our new manager. You said it. I can post him up, David. Yeah, he was two inches shorter. So being under six feet and not having played in the major leagues is not a big problem.
Craig, John Meoli with the Baltimore Banner, welcome. You've mentioned a couple times listening to the players and taking their feedback. If you've had a 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 a 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 six, seven of the players. I thought my kids put me up to it. No, I've probably reached out to like six, seven of them, to be honest with you. And it's just to get to know them, obviously introduce myself and get to know who they are and come to find out a couple of our guys either have fiances or wives with the two first names. So that's fun to see.
But, yeah, I think right now it's just obviously has been chaos in the best way possible, you know, the past 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 – what's going to take place on the field in spring training.
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Chapter 5: What are Craig's expectations for the team's performance next season?
We think the organization is going to be much better next year because the stadium is going to excite a lot of fans. We've got a lot of things going on in Baltimore. And so we rely a lot on what Mike and his team can do with Craig, finding good players that want to be here and that can complement what we already have. So we're looking forward to the new season.
I hope I'll see some of you down in spring training. And we're very excited about the new year. And I particularly want to thank Craig for bringing his family. And Genevieve, would you like to say anything? Would you like to say anything?
Put you right in the spot. I love it.
You want to come up here and say anything? No. Okay. So we have a great new addition to the Orioles family with a great family. And no doubt the star is his daughter. And I'm sure we'll be seeing much of her during the season. So thank you all very much for coming. And thank you for coming. And thank your family for coming. And thank the Cleveland Guardians for letting you show up here.
I hope you don't get in trouble for doing that. And thank you all for organizing this. Thank you.
You're the manager today. You can do whatever you want.
Right. Thanks, guys. Thank you.
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