Orioles adding Conger and North to coaching staff

The Orioles are getting closer to completing their coaching staff for the 2026 season.

According to a source, Hank Conger has been hired as bullpen coach under new manager Craig Albernaz.

Conger most recently was Minnesota’s assistant bench coach before finding out earlier this month that he wouldn’t be retained under new manager Derek Shelton. He joined the Twins in 2022 as first base and catching coach.

More youth is added to the staff with the 37-year-old Conger, a former first round draft pick of the Angels who played in the majors for seven seasons. He also gives the Orioles’ another hire with a catching background.

Conger spent five seasons with the Angels and played for the Astros in 2015 and Rays in 2016. Albernaz managed Tampa Bay’s instructional league team that year. Mike Elias was Houston’s director of amateur scouting in ’15.

Tim Cossins worked as the Orioles’ major league field coordinator and catching instructor, and he was in the bullpen during games prior to his dismissal on May 17. Assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer became interim bullpen coach.

Cossins was named the Astros' catching coach earlier today.

The Orioles also are hiring Brady North as assistant hitting coach, another link to Albernaz.

North, 34, had the same role for four seasons with the Rays, who announced on Oct. 3 that he could be reassigned but had the freedom to leave if he landed a major league job. He worked as hitting coach for Tampa Bay’s rookie league team in 2019 while Albernaz was minor league field coordinator and moved up to High-A Bowling Green in 2021.

North didn’t play affiliated ball. He spent 2015-16 in the independent Frontier League, totaling 30 games as a first baseman and left fielder. He batted .240/.341/.383 in one season at Jacksonville University.

The Orioles’ staff also includes bench coach Donnie Ecker, hitting coach Dustin Lind, first base coach Jason Bourgeois, third base coach Buck Britton, infield coach Miguel Cairo and field coordinator/catching coach Joe Singley.

Plassmeyer, Drew French and Ryan Klimek are holdovers from 2025. Their titles haven’t been announced, but French is assumed to remain as pitching coach, with Plassmeyer his assistant. Klimek was pitching strategy coach.

The Orioles had two assistant hitting coaches this year with Sherman Johnson and Tommy Joseph, and it’s unknown whether a second hire is pending.

The Baltimore Banner first reported North’s hiring and a source confirmed it.