(Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
There was, in the American League, only one team reaching 100 victories this season.
No, it wasn’t the Houston Astros, or the Tampa Bay Rays, or the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers.
It was the Baltimore Orioles, with a 101-61 record.
Things went south in the postseason and they could have definitely used another ace, but the foundation is there for them to be an MLB powerhouse for years to come.
The fact the franchise reached this point stems from teamwork, dedication, and a few dark years.
However, the primary person responsible for this is general manager Mike Elias, who was just rewarded with the Executive of the Year award in MLB.
In Mike Elias we trust. pic.twitter.com/XRZQKe1A49
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) November 7, 2023
“In Elias we trust,” the Orioles wrote via Twitter while announcing to the world that Elias had won.
And how can you not trust the guy after he worked magic with the O’s roster and farm since taking over in late 2018?
On November 16, 2018, everything changed for the Orioles.
That’s the day they hired Elias as their general manager and executive vice president.
Elias, in turn, brought in assistant general manager Sig Mejdal to really strengthen analytics for the Orioles.
It worked.
After making the playoffs in 2016, the O’s went 75-87 in 2017 and 47-115 in 2018, hitting rock bottom.
That forced ownership to think outside the box, and Elias came to the rescue.
2019-21 were some dark years, too, but correctives were already starting to be applied: the O’s finally started focusing on the international free agent market, they drafted superbly, they made savvy trades, and by 2022, they were already a good team again, as their 83-79 record suggests.
They added Adley Rutschman, Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle, Jordan Westburg, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Grayson Rodriguez, Heston Kjerstad, and Gunnar Henderson sometime in the last three years, and they are now the core of the franchise.
Elias certainly deserves his flowers.
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