Orioles legend Jim Palmer may have just thrown Craig Albernaz under the bus (and he’s right)

Managing an MLB team is not an easy task. With gameplanning, player management, and countless in-game decisions to make, there are a number of moving parts to keep in order if you want your team to win. So it would make sense to always be open to consider the advice of great baseball minds who may know a thing or two to help you. For Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz, it appears that he may have skipped over that part. 

As first noted by Bennett Conlin of The Baltimore Sun, Orioles legend Jim Palmer attempted to be one of those great baseball minds to provide some words of advice to Albernaz at the start of Spring Training this year. But according to Palmer, his guidance apparently went unheeded after essentially being ghosted by the Orioles manager. 

While appearing on a recent episode of the BMore Baseball Podcast, Palmer shared an interesting story regarding Albernaz that began with an observation on Colton Cowser. Palmer still considers the outfielder as an Orioles’ player with the most offensive upside. However, he has a number of weaknesses in his game that are holding him back from hitting his full potential, particularly hitting with runners in scoring position and facing left-handed pitching. 

Palmer explained that he attempted to contact Albernaz back in February to suggest that Cowser should study the success of New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger in order to improve his own game. But Palmer never heard back from Albernaz. So in August, Palmer approached the Orioles manager in person to ask why he never responded to his text earlier this year.  

“He said, ‘Well, that was a long time ago,’” Palmer revealed on the podcast. “Then he looks at me and he says, ‘It’s a lot easier to talk about it than do it.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’ve been around over 60 years. You know what my experience tells me? If you don’t talk about it, there’s no chance of doing it.”

Make no mistake about it. Palmer chucked Albernaz directly under that metaphoric bus with this story. And not only that, he was right to do so. With the Orioles GM Mike Elias already admitting that the team needs better results, Albernaz could use all of the help he can get.  

Craig Albernaz has quickly fallen out of favor with Orioles fans

Albernaz has been around professional baseball for two decades now, so he certainly knows his way around the game. After being a part of a handful of coaching staffs in the big leagues, he was hired for his first managing gig with the Orioles in October 2025. He took over for Brandon Hyde, who led the team to a very disappointing 75-87 record last season, just a year removed from back-to-back postseason appearances for the Orioles.  

With the club looking to right the ship and head back to the postseason, Albernaz seemed like a very smart move to venture in that direction. In fact, his hiring was applauded by the majority of Orioles fans. But over the course of the 2026 season, Albernaz burned through his allotted grace period with a number of questionable moves and he has already landed on the hot seat in the eyes of the fans. 

Is the act of ignoring Palmer a fireable offense? Of course not. But for a guy in desperate need of some good PR with the fans, he certainly hasn’t done himself any favors. The whole situation is only made worse by the fact that Palmer was correct in his advice as well. Cowser has continued to regress from his strong rookie season in 2024 and he is in need of a new approach to his development as a player.   

In 283 career at-bats against LHP, Cowser sports a lackluster .198/.264/.343 slash line. This includes just 11 home runs and a measly 28 RBI. If he’s unable to strengthen such a weak aspect of his game, he could be doomed to become a platoon player for the remainder of his career.

The same could be said about his approach at the plate with RISP. He owns a .666 OPS in 293 career at-bats with RISP. With nobody on base, that number jumps up more than 60 points. If that ineffectiveness with men on base continues throughout his career, he will always be a candidate to pinch hit in key late-game situations. 

In comparison, Bellinger has thrived in both of the same areas that Cowser struggles in. In 1,503 career at-bats against LHP, Bellinger boasts a very respectable slash of .268/.332/.468, making the lefty-on-lefty bullpen matchup obsolete. He also owns an impressive .873 OPS in 1,144 career at-bats with RISP, including nine grand slams. 

Those numbers are definitely something any player would be smart to try and duplicate. This makes Palmer’s story even more frustrating. It would be one thing if a hot dog-munching fan off the street was trying to tell Albernaz how to construct his lineup. But when a Hall of Famer is offering some factual words of wisdom, it may be wise to pay attention.    

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