As the Baltimore Orioles are surrounded by rumors, as the team is in the midst of a frustrating season, the organization has made a change that flew under the radar of many within the baseball world. While the Orioles will look to the offseason to pursue any free agents and make changes, the first move was promoting Mike Elias to president of baseball operations.
The change would be reported by Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic, who wrote that Baltimore “quietly” promoted Elias to the position from general manager. As to when, the reporters would say it happened “before their disappointing season even began.”
“The Baltimore Orioles doubled down on the leadership of Mike Elias before their disappointing season even began, quietly promoting him to president of baseball operations, sources told The Athletic,” Rosenthal and Ghiroli wrote.
Along with hiring a new permanent manager after letting go of Brandon Hyde during the season, the ball club will also have to hire a new general manager to work under Elias, as The Athletic points out.
“The promotion of Elias occurred last offseason. The Orioles now plan to build out their front office, including the hiring of a general manager who will work under Elias,” Rosenthal and Ghiroli continued.
A new look for the Orioles after the quiet promotion of Mike Elias
With fans wondering what's ahead for the Orioles with the slew of changes, there could be some who trust Elias to turn the direction of the franchise around. The Athletic would detail when the “expansion” of Baltimore began, which was hiring a special assistant to the general manager, Danny Haas.
“The expansion of the team’s baseball operations group began last week when the Orioles hired Washington Nationals scouting director Danny Haas as a special assistant to the general manager,” Rosenthal and Ghiroli wrote.
Going back to potentially being fans that could be excited for Elias' promotion, he led a rebuild that, coming off multiple seasons of the Orioles losing over 100 games, the club won 101 and 91 games the past two seasons.
“Under Elias, 42, the Orioles accelerated a rebuild that began with a 115-loss season before his hiring, and continued with 108- and 110-loss campaigns in his first two full seasons,” Rosenthal and Ghiroli wrote. “But through shrewd drafting and development, Elias transformed the Orioles into a force in the American League.”
At any rate, Baltimore is looking to improve as the team is currently 68-77 before Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, which puts them last in the AL East. The team next starts a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.
