Inside The Orioles

Who's To Blame for Orioles' Shocking Overnight Collapse?

Who's at fault for the Baltimore Orioles' stunning demise this season?

Tyler Maher

Apr 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Apr 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Around this time last year, the Baltimore Orioles were the envy of Major League Baseball.

Coming off a 101-win season in 2023 and armed with the best farm system in baseball, the Orioles appeared on the verge of a dynasty. The future looked incredibly bright for them, and a World Series title appeared within their grasp.

Instead, Baltimore has endured a shocking, inexplicable fall from grace over the past year.

The Orioles have been trending in the wrong direction for a while. After a strong first half in 2024, they faded in the second half, going 34-38 to close out the regular season and blowing their AL East lead over the New York Yankees.

Then, for the second year in a row, they failed to win a playoff game, getting swept in the AL Wild Card Round by the Kansas City Royals.

Things continued to get worse for Baltimore over the offseason. The team lost ace Corbin Burnes in free agency and failed to adequately replace him, leaving a gaping hole at the top of its rotation.

After getting ravaged by injuries during spring training, the Orioles' lack of depth has been brutally exposed. They've gotten off to a terrible start this year, going 5-8 and tumbling to last place in the AL East.

Nothing's gone right for Baltimore lately, and the team is clearly in a funk. Orioles fans are understandably angry, but who's to blame for the club's sudden, stunning collapse?

Typically, when a professional sports team goes south, the three biggest culprits are the owner, general manager and manager.

In Baltimore's case, it's hard to blame the owner. David Rubenstein has done a fantastic job since taking over after the 2023 season, increasing payroll from $68.7 million (29th in MLB) to $163.6 million (15th in MLB). He's aggressively investing in the team and shouldn't be at fault.

The problem, however, is that his money isn't being spent wisely. Despite having a much larger budget to work with, GM Mike Elias has constructed a deeply flawed roster.

Just look at the starting rotation, where the Orioles are paying Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano a combined $46 million this year -- far more than the $31.7 million the Arizona Diamondbacks are paying Burnes this season.

Elias also has a logjam of talented prospects like Coby Mayo with nowhere to play on the Major League roster. He should be trading them to improve the big-league roster rather than hoarding them in the minors.

While Elias has bungled things in the front office, his field manager is just as bad. Brandon Hyde has been a disaster in the dugout, sabotaging the roster with his endless lineup shuffling and baffling in-game decisions.

Hyde's recent results speak for themselves, and Baltimore needs to move on from him before it's too late. The team would probably be better off with a more stable manager who doesn't randomly change the batting order every night.

It's clear that the Orioles need to make a drastic change if they want to turn things around and get back on track. Firing Hyde would be a good start, but Elias may need to go soon as well if he doesn't right the ship.

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Tyler Maher
TYLER MAHER

Tyler grew up in Massachusetts and is a huge Boston sports fan, especially the Red Sox. He went to Tufts University and played club baseball for the Jumbos. Since graduating, he has worked for MLB.com, The Game Day, FanDuel and Forbes. When he's not writing about baseball, he enjoys running, traveling, and playing fetch with his golden retriever.

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