Mike Elias Has Emphasized 'Failure' of Baltimore Orioles To Power Their Offseason

The Baltimore Orioles are using their past failures to motivate them this offseason.

Nov 7, 2023; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias speaks to the media during the MLB General Manager's Meetings at Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

There is no doubt the Baltimore Orioles are entering the new Golden Era of this franchise.

After undergoing a teardown rebuild, their stockpile of star prospects has started to reach the Majors which has resulted in a 101-win season where they won the AL East division in 2023, and another where they were the top American League Wild Card team this past campaign.

Unfortunately, the success has only come before the calendar hits October.

The Orioles have yet to win a game in the playoffs during this time, getting swept by the Texas Rangers in the ALDS and then by the Kansas City Royals in the Wild Card round.

Considering the amount of talent this roster possesses, not being able to earn even one victory is pretty eye-opening.

So as Baltimore gets ready for this crucial winter where two of their best players are expected to leave in free agency, the question becomes how they can take the next step going forward.

For general manager Mike Elias, he's focusing on the negatives as a motivator.

"I've decided to kind of emphasize the failure aspect a little bit this offseason as we try to improve ourselves and make sure we're not in a place of stagnating as an organization," he said per Jake Rill of MLB.com.

That's an interesting approach, but one that might be necessary.

The Orioles have to capitalize on the window they are currently entering, and even though they are still ahead of schedule based on the original rebuilding timeline, the fact that multiple star prospects have turned into future franchise cornerstones means they have to do everything it takes to start winning now.

Operating like they have plenty of time to hoist the trophy is the fastest way to see a championship window close.

Elias isn't just being negative for being negative's sake, though.

"But we can't throw away a body of work that by and large demonstrates that we have a lot of really great things going on in the org. I think we're using the playoff failure to motivate ourselves to introspect, make hard changes, look for things that we haven't been doing that we can do better. And I think that's harder to do when you're coming off of a fresh taste of success and it's a little easier to push yourself in those areas when you have a bad taste in your mouth. I'm making use of that bad taste," he added.

That's the right way to approach things.

Baltimore can no longer just be content and happy with getting into the playoffs.

They have the talent to win a World Series title if the players, coaching staff and organization stay hungry.

How that translates to this winter as a whole will be seen, but during the early stages of the offseason, Elias has certainly been aggressive when making some changes.