Orioles Hire Robinson Chirinos As Special Assistant

Former player Robinson Chirinos will return to the Orioles but in a new role. The club announced that he will be working as a special assistant in the baseball operations and player development department. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to relay the news, adding that Chirinos will “support players, coaches, and staff across our lower levels, providing leadership, mentorship, and reinforcement of organizational philosophies.”

Chirinos, 41, played in the majors from 2011 to 2022. He announced his retirement as a player in May of 2023. He quickly pivoted to the next stage of his career, getting hired as Baltimore’s bench coach in November of 2024, working under skipper Brandon Hyde.

His first year as a coach turned out to be a tumultuous one. The Orioles fell short of expectations in 2025, which led to a shake-up in the dugout, as Hyde was fired in the middle of May. When a manager is fired mid-season, the bench coach will sometimes takes over, but Chirinos was only a few months into his coaching career at that point. The Orioles instead went with third base coach Tony Mansolino, who had a few more years of coaching experience, as interim manager.

Mansolino held the job through the end of the 2025 season but the O’s made further changes after the campaign. Craig Albernaz was hired as the new skipper in late October. A new manager often leads to some coaching changes and it was reported a few days after Albernaz’s hiring that Chirinos would not be back in the bench coach role. Donnie Ecker was hired for that job a few weeks later.

Chirinos took a few months to pursue other opportunities but will now return to the Orioles in this player development role. He won’t be back in the dugout but it seems he will still be able to impact the franchise by working with younger prospects who will hopefully make it to the majors in the years to come.