During the news conference to introduce new Orioles manager Craig Albernaz, everybody said all the right stuff and his 2-year-old daughter pretty much stole the show.
Kids do say the darnedest things, but the assembled media could only be expected to grill the new skipper on his coaching philosophy for so long before the talk turned to the offseason and the direction the team might go in pursuit of a turnaround season like the one just concluded by the last-to-first World Series runner-up Toronto Blue Jays.
Albernaz obviously was not ready to speak to that, but – fortunately – he was flanked on both sides by Orioles Control Partner David Rubenstein and President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias, who joined him in fielding a wide array of questions over more than 40 minutes at the Warehouse Restaurant (formerly Dempsey’s) on the Eutaw Street concourse.
Nobody got too specific, since the offseason is only a few days old, but Rubenstein tried to reassure skeptical Oriole fans that the ownership group is “deep-pocketed” and can do what the team needs to do.”
“We don’t have particular constraints,” he said. “We’re going to try to get the best players we can.”
He tempered that by also saying that you don’t have to have the highest payroll in baseball to win the World Series, even though the Dodgers have proven the past two seasons that it certainly helps.
So, we still have to draw our own conclusions, but I’ll still be surprised if the O’s trot out a $300 million superstar later this winter. That does not seem to be something this small market will bear, regardless of how many billions the partners might have in personal net worth.
Rubenstein, as he has in the past, unreservedly praised the job that Elias has done to strengthen the organization over the seven seasons he has been in charge of baseball ops and indicated Elias would continue to get great latitude in determining the makeup of the major league roster and overseeing the minor league system.
He also wholeheartedly endorsed the hiring of Albernaz and his solid track record as a rising coach with the Tampa Bay Rays, San Francisco Giants and as the right-hand man for Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt the past two seasons.
“We’re really excited to have him here,” Rubenstein said. “If you read about his background, he’s been a leader everywhere he’s been. People say he’s a take-charge person that’s made every organization he’s been at better because he was there, so we were thrilled when he decided to accept the offer and we’re looking forward to many, many years with him and us.
“We are now going to spend a lot of time seeing what’s out there and what players we can bring to the team and strengthen the team.”
The Orioles have a big to-do list, particularly reassembling a bullpen that was dismantled at the trade deadline. Elias didn’t waste any time taking a significant step in that direction, reacquiring veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge from the Cubs on Tuesday for cash considerations.
“We have a lot of work to get to this offseason,” Elias said during his introduction of Albernaz. “He’s gonna join with the front office in making those moves and assessing how we want to navigate this offseason. But we’re already working full steam ahead in our very long agenda of offseason business.”