Jim Palmer gives tough indictment of former Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz's first year as Orioles manager

Last offseason Stephen Vogt’s staff took a huge hit when the Baltimore Orioles stole Guardians assistant manager Craig Albernaz from his staff to be their next manager. It looked like the kind of move that could lead to the Guardians taking a step back while helping vault the Orioles back to the postseason. 

The exact opposite ended up happening, as the Guardians are about to begin their third straight trek through October while the Orioles finished the year with a disappointing 79-82 record. 

There was some good (namely Pete Alonso’s production and Brandon Young’s breakout season) but there was also a lot of bad led by underperformance from some of the team’s young players. 

And according to one Orioles legend, it seems like Albernaz missed a good chance to gain some knowledge from one of Birdland’s most revered former players in Jim Palmer. 

Craig Albernaz didn't receive high marks for his first season with the Orioles

According to a new story that Palmer told on the BMore Sports Podcast, where he told a story about how he tried to work with Albernaz to fix Colton Cowser’s production. 

By Palmer’s recollection, he went to Albernaz in spring training and suggested that Colton Cowser should spend the spring studying Cody Bellinger’s at-bats in an attempt to get better at hitting against left-handed pitching and with runners in scoring position. 

And, according to Palmer, Albernaz blew Palmer off at that moment and dismissed him when he brought it up in September by saying “it’s a lot easier to talk about it than do it.” 

It would be one thing for Albernaz to say that if Cowser was having a career year, but he finished 2026 with a .445 OPS against left-handers to go along with a .604 OPS with runners in scoring position. 

Cowser’s struggles aren’t the only reason the Orioles missed out on the postseason, but it fits into the team-wide trend of atrophy among their young stars. 

Gunner Henderson finished the year with an OPS+ just 2% above league average despite recording an American League-leading 623 at-bats, while Jackson Holiday recorded another subpar season. 

Palmer’s interview comes less than a week after the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka published a fantastic story where he spoke to 10 members of the Orioles about what went wrong this season. 

Although some players chalked the rough year up to underperformance, Chris Bassitt went on the record and said that he felt it stemmed from the team's preparation and desire to check boxes instead of putting in work. That kind of thing starts at the top. 

It can be tough for a new manager to come in and install their system in the first season (especially when the Orioles’ developmental pipeline seems to be so rotten), but Vogt gave every new manager a tough bar to clear when he won Manager of the Year in his first year with the Guardians.

Albernaz still has a bright future as a big league manager, but his first season at the top step of the dugout didn’t go how anyone intended. 

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