Orioles Manager Craig Albernaz Reacts to Trade Deadline Sell-Off

BALTIMORE, Md. — The trade deadline is an emotional day for all involved in the game of baseball. Some teams choose to buy contributors to enhance their odds of making the playoffs, while others sell to load up players that could provide future value.

For a club like the Baltimore Orioles, who sat four games under .500 and 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card slot on deadline day, this is a point of contention. They could buy, but if the team fails to make the playoffs, they will have wasted assets.

Ultimately, despite signing Pete Alonso and extending Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz this season, the O’s decided to sell. When the dust settled, Baltimore had traded away Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward, Tyler Wells, and Dean Kremer.

Regardless of the front office’s direction, the players in the dugout and their manager want to win every game. When key contributors are shipped out, that puts managers, like Craig Albernaz, in a tough spot.

“Coming into the year, [there were] high hopes and expectations,” Albernaz said. “Now, you get to the trade deadline, and you lose three great players and three great people that are in that clubhouse…So yeah, it was a tough day.”

While it’s difficult to see each player walk out the door, there’s no doubt that losing catcher Adley Rutschman was the biggest blow. Albernaz knew that he would be highly coveted in trade discussions, but that doesn’t make losing him any easier.

“When teams call, it’s definitely not a shock, you know,” Albernaz explained. “What team wouldn’t want an Adley Rutschman? He’s a special player, special individual; impact player both on and off the field.”

Albernaz also said that Ward “made an impact” as soon as he was traded, Wells “was outstanding for us in the ‘pen in a variety of different roles,” and noted that it was tough to lose a starter like Kremer.

Though longtime members of the Orioles are gone, the team still has an outside chance at a playoff spot. While disappointment is expected in the clubhouse, they ultimately still control their own destiny.

“In that clubhouse, there’s a lot of confidence that we can still make a push here,” said the O’s skipper. “There’s a 50-game sprint to the finish line. What can we do these next 50 games to give ourselves a chance?”

Albernaz didn’t shy away from criticism, either. He took the blame for Baltimore’s lack of success this season, hoping that he can still get this team into playoff position down the stretch.

“I’m the manager of the team, that falls squarely on me,” Albernaz said of the team’s struggles. “That we had to put Mike [Elias, Orioles president of baseball operations] and the front office in that position to feel like they had to make some changes.

“Mike and his group have an impossible job, in my opinion, to keep one eye on the season at hand, but also another eye on the future of the organization, as well.”

Elias did secure some potential impact talent for the future, in pitchers Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, as well as outfielder Enddy Azocar from Boston and pitcher Michael Forret from Tampa Bay. None of these prospects have debuted in the major leagues yet.

“If you have some ability to add some top pedigree talent, especially on the pitching side, it’s a huge boost to your organization,” Albernaz explained. “There’s a lot to like with the guys we brought in, and now it’s up to us as an organization to develop these guys in the big leagues.”

One potential big move that the Orioles did not make was trading starting pitcher Trevor Rogers. Many forecasted that Baltimore would cut ties with him in a sell-off, given that he is an impending free agent, but Elias held onto the lefty.

Rogers, 28, has pitched 109.2 innings with a 4.27 ERA on the season. He may not receive Cy Young Award votes like he did last season, but he has been a key part of the club’s rotation over the past couple of years.

By not trading Rogers, the Orioles are likely to give him a qualifying offer and pursue him in free agency. If he accepts the offer, they’ll be happy to keep him around for another year; if he declines, Baltimore will receive a compensatory draft pick.

“If you have good starting pitching, you have a chance,” Albernaz said. “For us, I love our starting pitching group…love having [Rogers] here.”

Despite the subtractions, Baltimore does still have a core in place – which Albernaz believes will be conducive to winning. While it’s fair to assume that he may be overly optimistic about the team’s ceiling, a manager should publicly have unwavering faith in their ballclub.

Albernaz admitted that fans are going to be discouraged by the moves, but he hopes to win back their trust with positive results.

“From the fanbase side, we get it, for sure,” Albernaz admitted, regarding the discontent that the fanbase may have for these trade deadline moves. “But we still have a lot of good players in there. For us, ultimately, we just have to go out and win games. That’s what the fans want.

“We want to bring a winning environment, a winning atmosphere to Baltimore, and keep it here for a long time.”

While it’s going to be an uphill battle for Baltimore to make the playoffs this season, they’re certainly not out of it. Now that they’ve sold at the deadline, they’re just playing with house money to finish the season.

If the Orioles are unable to make the playoffs, they’ll have done exactly what the front office set them up to do at the trade deadline. If Baltimore does manage to overcome the long odds and make the postseason, it will have happened because of the unwavering belief that Albernaz instilled in them during difficult times like these.