Baltimore Orioles Executive Admits Mistake He Made in One Key Area

After an early exit in the playoffs, the Baltimore Orioles general manager admitted he made a mistake when it comes to one area they were lacking in.

Jul 18, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias on field prior to the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards / Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Conversations and discussions have been ongoing within the Baltimore Orioles organization about how they can reach the next step with this young group that puts them in contention to win a World Series.

While they have certainly enjoyed successful seasons the past two years, winning over 100 games and the AL East title in 2023 and earning the top Wild Card spot this past season, they have failed to win a single game in the playoffs.

Last year, their pitching was the problem, but this time around it was their hitting that was lacking, so when general manager Mike Elias was taking an inward look about what went wrong with this group down the stretch, he pointed the finger at himself regarding the lack of offense.

"A lot of my moves and concerns [at the trade deadline] had been toward the pitching side. That sort of ended up not being our shortcoming in the second half and in October, so that's on me, but we're going to take some time to look at things professionally, talk to everyone in the warehouse, every bit of information that we can and come up with a plan to not have this happen again," he said at his end-of-season news conference.

So what do those changes entail?

For one, the Orioles will have a whole new group of hitting coaches.

Ryan Fuller will not be back with the team in 2025 and Matt Borgschulte took a job with the Minnesota Twins, so it will be on manager Brandon Hyde to find someone to take over that role or go with the co-hitting coach approach they've had since 2022.

Player wise, there isn't a whole lot that can be done if the front office doesn't have the ability to spend.

Losing Anthony Santander is a huge blow that takes away their best power hitter and RBI man from last season, and even though internal option Heston Kjerstad could turn into a star in his own right, that might not come next year.

That goes for top prospect Coby Mayo as well, who finished his first MLB stint 4-for-41 at the plate.

With an inability to spend to land high-end free agents like Juan Soto and others who are scheduled to hit the open market, Baltimore will likely turn to trades to get something done unless they go after some stopgap solutions in free agency.

Elias hasn't shown a willingness to depart with some of their elite prospects during his tenure, so landing a star like Luis Robert Jr. or a productive hitter like Taylor Ward might also be off the table after they dealt some of their best chips at this past deadline.

The options seem to be slim, but with Elias recognizing the front office didn't do enough to bolster the offensive group during the deadline, which was a major part of their undoing, perhaps that is the push he needs to change how the Orioles have operated up to this point.