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When the Baltimore Orioles last trotted out baseball operations head Mike Elias and general manager Jared Banner to address the media, the discussion veered far from any substantive baseball updates. Banner, new to the GM role, spent much of his time lauding Elias and business operations leader Catie Griggs, while Elias maintained his usual posture of keeping his cards close—though his intentions often become apparent through media leaks that render his supposed secrecy almost transparent.
Yet, clues from The Baltimore Banner's enthusiastic report that virtually everyone is available via trade—except Pete Alonso and Gunnar Henderson—along with insights from an assistant GM's press conference with Elias, suggest the Orioles are sending clear signals about their offseason ambitions, or the lack thereof.
Consider the sequence: Griggs dismissed Mr. Splash and multiple Oriole Birds in a move that was bound to be a PR headache (especially with a bare-bones PR staff), the Orioles broadcasting their eagerness to make trades far and wide, and billionaire owner David Rubenstein oscillating between pleading poverty regarding a potential lockout and boasting about profits from running the team. The outlook is already concerning.
There is only one interpretation: the payroll will at best match last year's total, and the front office aims to address numerous needs through trades so Elias can conserve the owner's funds and avoid overpaying—likely for mediocre players who would only join a struggling organization for a premium over what a competitive team would pay.
That is the environment Elias has cultivated over nearly a decade of running the franchise into the ground, and it was underscored by his latest lieutenant at last week's press conference.
Key Analysis
Banner, ostensibly in charge of the coaching staff (though Elias retained the aimless manager for another year before even conducting GM interviews), put an interesting spin on the decision not to alter one of MLB's most overmatched and least effective groups of hitting and pitching coaches.
"We're hoping for some continuity," Banner said. "Things could change—some of our staff members could get new, big opportunities elsewhere—but we're hoping for some continuity."
Why does that matter? Banner knows other teams are also frugal, like the Orioles, and are not making many staff changes either. And these coaches are ineffective and not going anywhere; no one is trying to hire them. The Orioles also don't want to spend more money on better options and have to pay these individuals to leave.
They are taking the cheap and easy way out—the Elias way—and if that doesn't signal what the private equity billionaires have planned for the open market, then observers haven't been paying attention.
They want to take on fixed costs in trades and move players like Jackson Holliday out of town, just as they jettisoned a former No. 2 overall pick (Heston Kjerstad) to avoid dealing with their obvious failures there.
This is who they are and what they do: Elias wants players on team-friendly deals via trade, whom he will never extend and can rent for a few seasons. Same as it ever was.
They tend to reveal their hand early. They aren't hard to read, and Elias's every move has been scrutinized since the 2023 trade deadline.
They're already doing it through local media, and soon the national media will follow (how many free agents will the access merchants claim they were the runner-up on this time?). Elias plays that game well. But when it comes to actually doing his job and improving the team, he is a complete fraud.