Brandon Hyde Out as Orioles Manager

Things can change in the blink of an eye in Major League Baseball.

In 2023, the Baltimore Orioles won 101 games. Their manager, Brandon Hyde, was named American League Manager of the Year. They were swept in the playoffs by the eventual champion Texas Rangers, but it looked like the fun was only beginning.

Last season, the Orioles won 91 games and were the AL’s top wild card team. They were again swept in the playoffs by the Kansas City Royals, which caused some unrest amongst the Baltimore faithful.

Currently, the Orioles are 15-28. After suffering a 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals Friday night in which the O’s stranded 15 runners on base, president of baseball operations Mike Elias pulled the trigger on a big move late Saturday morning.

The Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde, who was in the midst of his seventh season with the club.

In the team’s press release, Elias wore the blame for the team’s disappointing start, saying this: “As head of baseball operations, the poor start to our season is ultimately my responsibility.” He then thanked Hyde for “returning the team to the playoffs and winning an AL East championship.”

New majority owner David Rubenstein echoed Elias’ sentiment, thanking Hyde for all of his efforts in his managerial role. Rubenstein also added some context to the firing from a business lens: “As is sometimes the case in baseball, changes becomes necessary, and we believe that this is one of those moments.”

The Orioles named third base coach Tony Mansolino their interim manager. Former longtime major league catcher Robinson Chirinos will remain in his role as bench coach.

Examining Brandon Hyde’s Tenure

When Mike Elias first took the reigns of the Orioles front office, his first big move was naming Brandon Hyde the team’s new manager.

For the first three years of Hyde’s tenure, the team was openly tanking. In the first two full seasons with Hyde managing from 2019-’21, the Orioles lost 108 and 110 games, respectively. They were a bit more competitive in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, finishing 25-35.

None of that losing was Hyde’s fault. The team was shedding payroll and had little-to-no talent. Elias assured the Orioles brass that Hyde would get his chance to manage the competitive Orioles teams down the road.

In 2022, the team was not expected to be competitive, but they surprisingly finished 83-79. Adley Rutschman was called up in late May of that year, and the team hit the ground running from there.

There was hope for the Orioles to succeed for the first time in many years.

Magic was in the air in 2023. The Orioles won 101 games, best in the American League. Gunnar Henderson won AL Rookie of the Year, and the vibes surrounding the team were pretty immaculate.

The team debuted their water themed celebrations in the dugout, with the “homer hose” garnering national attention. They may have fallen short in the playoffs, but the club’s pitching outside of Kyle Bradish was simply not good enough to stop the buzzsaw that was the Rangers.

In 2024, it looked like things would pick up right where they left off. Henderson was playing like an MVP candidate, and the team had traded for a legit ace in Corbin Burnes. Through June 20, the Orioles were 49-25 and had just pummeled the Yankees 17-5 in the Bronx.

After that day, fortunes seemed change for the Orioles. They finished 42-46 for the remainder of the season and were shut down in the playoffs by the Royals. The team scored just one run in 18 innings in front of their home crowd.

Fast forward to present day, and they Orioles are 13 games under .500 in mid-May. The team that was seemingly invincible in 2023 is now below average offensively and one of the worst teams in baseball pitching wise.

Hyde caught a lot of criticism for the the team’s slow start, but it’s fair to ask: Is any of this really his fault?

Who’s Really to Blame?

It’s no secret that the Orioles haven’t exactly thrown money on the table like a real contender during any of Hyde’s tenure. In fact, for almost the entirety of that time, the team’s biggest earner was Chris Davis.

Elias made it his prerogative to build the Orioles from within, as he had with the Houston Astros’ front office. He’s done very well adding valuable bats to the organization, namely Rutschman, Henderson, Westburg, Cowser, Holliday, Mayo, and Basallo, all of whom project to be above-average players.

What the Orioles have not done to the degree of the Jeff Luhnow-era Astros is add pitching.

Those Astros added Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Zack Greinke, who played a vital role in their continued postseason success.

The Orioles have made some moves for pitching, via trade. They traded for Jack Flaherty at the 2023 deadline, a year before his re-emergence. Burnes was a huge addition as a rental before the 2024 season and was very good. They also traded for a year and a half of Zach Eflin this past trade deadline, who has been productive for them.

Elias has subscribed to not investing in pitching early in the draft and not over-spending in free agency for starting pitching. Perhaps he’s still scarred from what Brady Aiken and Mark Appel did to the Astros while he was there. However, you need good pitching to win.

This season, the Orioles knew that Bradish would be on the shelf, recovering from Tommy John surgery. Grayson Rodriguez has been injury-prone throughout his career and has not pitched yet this season.

That’s what makes it so baffling that all the Orioles did in free agency was give two older pitchers one-year deals.

Charlie Morton, 41, signed for $15 million this offseason. He has an 8.35 ERA and is pitching out of the bullpen already. Tomoyuki Sugano signed for $13 million and has been a pleasant surprise (3.08 ERA), but the advanced metrics still don’t love him (4.45 xFIP).

It’s good that Elias began his statement by taking the blame for the team’s poor performance. In some cases he’s right, a good portion of Baltimore’s early-season struggles fall on his shoulders.

Fans complained that Hyde was too reliant on opposite-handed matchups and playing veterans for the past two seasons. That is a fair critique. However, it doesn’t seem like this team was built to win a championship in 2025, regardless of who was the manager.

What’s Next for the Orioles?

Mansolino, 42, will try to get the team back to its winning ways for the remainder of the 2025 season. Mansolino has minor league managing experience and was on Terry Francona’s staff in Cleveland for a few years.

The main priority for the club under Mansolino is likely to get this offense that is the ninth-worst in OPS back up to standard. Henderson (.764 OPS), Rutschman (.654 OPS), and Ryan Mountcastle (.611 OPS) have all underperformed.

Since the O’s don’t seem to have the pitching to make a miracle comeback this offseason, they are likely to be pseudo-sellers at the deadline. They’ll explore trades for veterans like Cedric Mullins and Zach Eflin, hoping to get intriguing young arms back.

The Orioles will then have a managerial search on their hands for 2026. I think that it’s likely Elias will still be handling the search, given the influx of talent that the team has acquired via the draft.

They may choose to go for an experienced manager, or perhaps another young, analytically-driven one. They may already have the latter in-house.

Buck Britton, 39, is the older brother of former Oriole Zack Britton. He managed this young core as they reached the high minors, in Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. The Tides won the Triple-A championship under his leadership in 2023.

Britton is currently in the Orioles’ dugout already as a “Major League Coach” and will probably be a part of interview process this offseason.

Whatever direction the Orioles decide to go at manager, this offseason is sure to be a crucial one for Elias. His job will be on the line after a disappointing 2025 season.