Should the Orioles bring back Tony Mansolino?

Should the Baltimore Orioles bring back Tony Mansolino as their manager in 2026?

Sep 17, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Baltimore Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino smiles before a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles have a major decision to make when it comes to naming a big-league manager this offseason.

The Orioles fired Brandon Hyde on May 17 after a 15-28 start and replaced him with interim skipper Tony Mansolino. For the remainder of the 2025 season, Baltimore went 60-59 under Mansolino, who is now a candidate to take over the job on a permanent basis.

"He will be a real candidate, but I expect we are going to talk to other people," president of baseball operations Mike Elias said of Mansolino on Sept. 29. "We're initiating that process imminently."

Elias has made it clear that experience is going to play a factor in the Orioles' managerial search, which doesn't bode well for Mansolino's chances of being kept on as permanent skipper.

However, Elias admitted that experience won't be everything when looking for a new manager.

“In our particular situation, I think [experience] will definitely carry a lot of weight. But if you look at history, it is not a requisite for managerial success and it's not necessary and nor does it guarantee success,” Elias said.

“It'll all be weighed in the portfolio of the candidate and there are other perceived strengths and areas of lacking. We'll just look at the whole picture and the person and try to decide who's best for us right now.

"But you know, experience would definitely be an attractive feature by and large," Elias added.

One could argue that Mansolino's familiarity with this current Orioles' young group gives him the upper hand against outside candidates. Mansolino had Baltimore playing solid baseball the rest of the way after the team let go of Hyde in May.

Mansolino also showed composure after taking over as the Orioles' manager as well.

"At no point, even the day that Mike kind of handed the reins to me, at no point did I feel overwhelmed," Mansolino said. "I think over the last 4 1/2 months, I basically did a local and national interview on a daily basis that was incredibly invasive, and I do feel strong that I passed with flying colors in a lot of ways."

All of that being said, the 43-year-old only had five seasons of being a third base coach before surprisingly being named interim manager in replacement of Hyde in 2025.

Mansolino did a good job as manager of Baltimore, but the team might benefit from bringing in an outside name that has more managerial experience.

The Orioles are loaded with young talent, so it wouldn't hurt to bring in a voice that has a proven track record and immediate respect in the room upon their arrival.