Eckerd College baseball coach Bill Mathews:
“What I saw in him was that he expected respect,” Mathews recalled. “He was a tough kid raised in a tough area (Somerset/Fall River, Massachusetts), and he had to learn how to treat people with some leeway so they could understand him and respect him. …
“And once he realized that, man, he just took off. He was the best leader. He was my right-hand man. I never called a pitch when he was here. It’s a trite phrase, but he literally was a coach on the field.”
Mitch Lukevics, Rays’ senior advisor:
“The attitude, the aptitude, the work ethic, those things that he developed or he had as a player, it carried over, and those are the things that I would look for in a staff member.
“Alby’s no different now than when we signed him — that’s a wonderful trait of Craig Albernaz. From when we signed him all the way through the minor leagues and when he was a coach, he was a sponge. (Long-time Rays minor-league manager/coach) Bill Evers was his mentor. He learned and he learned, and he had a wonderful attitude. … He was selfless. I can’t say enough about the quality of the person.”
Ken Rosenthal on Fair Territory:
“What’s interesting about this for me is how Cleveland is a target for other teams when they’re hiring executives, when they’re hiring managers … Cleveland is seen as the model mid-market team. The team that seems to compete every year. And how they do it, that secret sauce, is what everyone wants.”
“New Orioles manager Craig Albernaz has rep as great communicator, confident, humble, smart. Also a plus he’s been righthand man of Stephen Vogt in Cleveland. Orioles made a great hire by all accounts. Word is they aren’t that likely to add a GM this offseason.”
“Vogt and Craig Albernaz razz each other like teenaged brothers. The manager is mild-mannered, a guy with an impersonation of everyone he encounters on a regular basis. The bench coach is a quick-witted pitbull with a sharp Boston accent. The two bicker constantly, they debate decisions in the dugout and they’re as tight-knit as a manager and his lieutenant can be.”
Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti:
“He’s endeared himself to so many people in such a short time. I think about how he didn’t have many preexisting relationships coming in, and he’s built so many great relationships across the organization.”
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt via Ken Rosenthal:
“It’s not often you get to work in this game with one of your best friends. The two years I got to spend with Craig will be two years I cherish more than any in my career. He’s going to crush it in Baltimore. I’m ecstatic for him.”
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt:
He’s “the hardest-working person in baseball,” and an “Energizer Bunny” who stays up “all hours of the night diving into one small thing if it can help one of our players get a tick better.”
His “ability to connect with players was a hallmark of his time in San Francisco and Cleveland — and was part of the allure for an Orioles team filled with young talent.” Albernaz, who, in his previous coaching jobs, forged strong relationships with younger players and was leaned on for a baseball sense honed by years behind the plate, leaped to the top of the list in Baltimore.
