Orioles continued their coaching staff overhaul, but fans should still be very skeptical

The Baltimore Orioles keep adding chairs around the table. On paper, the latest wave of hires under new manager Craig Albernaz looks exactly like the kind of infrastructure a contender is supposed to build: more voices, more experience, more specialization. But for a fanbase still stung by a 75–87 face-plant and a quiet start to the winter, it’s hard to ignore the obvious question lurking underneath every press release: who, exactly, are all these coaches going to coach? 

You don’t erase a last-place finish with better titles and new business cards. You fix it with a stronger rotation, a deeper bullpen, and real upgrades to a roster that just watched the rest of the division blow past it.

Nobody’s mad about the Orioles trying to modernize the dugout and front office — after back-to-back playoff trips in 2023 and 2024, this organization proved it knows how to identify smart people. What fans are wrestling with is the order of operations. It feels like the Orioles are rebuilding the scaffolding after the house has already been lived in, while the foundation still shows cracks.

Orioles’ latest coaching hires won’t quiet growing doubts in Baltimore

Albernaz can be as sharp as advertised, and his staff can be loaded with teachers and tacticians, but if Mike Elias and the front office don’t put more talent on the field, this all risks becoming window dressing on a roster that’s already shown where it falls short.

The newest moves fit that pattern. According to multiple reports, the Orioles are bringing in Miguel Cairo as major league infield coach and Joe Singley as major league field coordinator and catching coach. Cairo, 51, is hardly a lightweight hire. He played 17 big league seasons with nine different clubs, seeing just about everything the game can throw at a role player, and he’s since worn plenty of hats on coaching staffs. 

Most recently, he moved from Nationals bench coach into their interim manager’s chair after Dave Martinez was fired in July 2025, and Washington even gave him a look for the full-time job before going outside the box for Rays executive Blake Butera. Cairo’s on-field résumé touches every position but center field and catcher, which should make him a strong resource for Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday and a young infield that still has edges to sand down.

Singley arrives with a more behind-the-scenes reputation but an equally important job. He’s expected to oversee catching and coordinate the overall on-field program after working in the Marlins’ system, where his calling card was structure and detail.

Pair Cairo’s infield expertise with Singley’s big-picture role, and you can see the skeleton of what Albernaz and the Orioles are trying to build: a staff that can squeeze every last percentage point of performance out of a talented core.

On a whiteboard, it all tracks: new manager, new bench coach, new hitting voice, new infield and catching specialists, new front-office structure. The problem, from an Orioles fan’s perspective, is that none of these moves stepped into the batter’s box during that 4.60 team ERA slog last year. 

None of them threw an inning when the rotation ran out of gas or when injuries exposed how shallow the pitching really was. You can rewire the communication channels and redraw the org chart, but at some point somebody has to go get more arms. When a staff that just finished tied for 25th in ERA watches the rest of the league shop for starters and late-inning help, it’s understandable that fans look at another coaching hire and think, “Cool, but where are the pitchers?”

That’s why the mood in Baltimore has shifted into a clear “show me” phase. This isn’t 2022 anymore, when any sign of progress felt like house money. This roster is supposed to be in its contending window. Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Holliday and the rest of the young core have already proved they can carry a playoff team when properly supported. What they need now isn’t a fresh round of introductory Zoom calls with new instructors; they need reinforcements. 

So yes, the Orioles’ coaching overhaul is interesting. But the message from Birdland is pretty simple: prove it with players. Until Elias and the front office back this shiny new staff with real investment in the roster, fans are right to stay skeptical.