The Baltimore Orioles have disappointed once again in 2026.
The Baltimore Orioles are already looking toward the future. President of baseball operations Mike Elias confirmed on Saturday that first-year manager Craig Albernaz will return in 2027, even after a disappointing debut season that will likely see the Orioles miss out on postseason contention. He shared his reasoning as to why when speaking during a press conference.
"Well, there's a lot of positives to what he brings to the table, but I look at where we are, our record, and how we feel like we've disappointed ourselves this season. I think it means all of us have room to get better and improve, so we're kind of focused on that,” Elias said, via Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun.
He continued to praise what Albernaz brings to the clubhouse, but pointed straight to the team’s record and the sense that the group let itself down. His message was simple: everyone in the organization has room to get better. Albernaz was hired last October for his first managerial job in MLB after operating as the Cleveland Guardians' bench coach.
Baltimore sits at 75-80 entering Sunday and is last place in the American League East. The club sits four games back of the final AL wild card spot, with just seven games left.
The Orioles spent big last winter, signing right-handed slugger Pete Alonso in free agency to help lead a young, talented core. That move was supposed to push them back into October. Instead, the season has slowly unraveled.
Alonso mostly held up his end though. The 31-year-old first baseman has appeared in all 155 of the team’s games, batting .266 with a .361 on-base percentage, .864 OPS, 38 home runs and 105 RBIs.
The problem was almost everything around him. Baltimore has struggled to produce as a team offensively around him.
The pitching was also very inconsistent. Left-hander Trevor Rogers has been a key piece of the rotation withx 165 2/3 innings and a 4.07 ERA. Behind him, Kyle Bradish saw his season end because of a sports hernia, but produced before going down.
Elias plans to restructure the front office this winter. The team intends to hire a general manager while adding other outside voices too.
Albernaz and Elias will both keep their seats for now. Still, with a young core, Alonso in the middle and a franchise chasing its first playoff series win since 2014, the pressure to turn things around in 2027 will fall on everyone.
