(AP) — The Baltimore Orioles are sticking with youth in their managerial spot, hiring Cleveland assistant Craig Albernaz for that role.

Albernaz, who turns 43 on Thursday, was previously an associate manager with the Guardians. He was promoted to that role after serving as bench coach in 2024.

Albernaz takes over a Baltimore team that still has plenty of potential despite sliding to 75 wins this year and a last-place finish in the AL East. The Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde in May, and Tony Mansolino ran the team on an interim basis the rest of the way.

“We are elated to welcome Craig Albernaz as the next manager of the Orioles and our leader on the field,” team president Mike Elias said in a statement Monday. “Craig has built an exemplary career across multiple successful organizations and brings a tremendous amount of experience, knowledge and talent to our organization and to this new challenge. We believe he is the right person at the right time to elevate our baseball operations and guide our team back to the playoffs and a World Series championship.”

Albernaz is about a month younger than Mansolino, and like his predecessor he’ll be making his big league managing debut with Baltimore. That was basically the case with Hyde as well. His major league managing experience consisted of one game in an interim role with the Marlins before he began managing the Orioles at age 45 in 2019.