"We were not relevant for a few years" - Executive of the Year Mike Elias talks about Baltimore Orioles' turnaround (Exclusive)

Many MLB executives caught a virus this week at the General Managers' Meetings, but Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias avoided the stomach bug. Even better news for the GM is that he won the MLB Executive of the Year award as voted on by his peers at the meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The award is a sign of how far the organization has come since 2018 when the Orioles had a 47-115 record and the firing of GM Dan Duquette led to the hiring of Elias from the Houston Astros.

“It’s a huge compliment,” Elias told Sportskeeda about winning the award. “It’s a very talented, accomplished group of people, so to be recognized by them and amongst them is really meaningful.

"I think it’s nice for our front office and the Orioles’ organization because we were not relevant for a few years there, so I think it’s really cool for this team to get this positive attention.”

The Baltimore Orioles were certainly worthy of the attention this past season. Their 101-61 record in the regular season was the best in the American League and second in the majors to the Atlanta Braves, who finished 104-58.

Though the Orioles were upended by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers in an American League Division Series, Elias’ award displays how far the organization has come under his watch.

The Orioles' rise from the bottom

Baltimore Orioles General Manager Mike Elias

The Orioles had nowhere to go but up when Elias came to Baltimore after serving as the Astros’ assistant GM.

Elias understood his task after having a front-row seat for a major rebuilding effort with the Houston Astros. Houston lost at least 106 games in three consecutive seasons from 2011-13 before reaching the postseason two years later and winning the first World Series in franchise history in 2017.

The Orioles didn’t get appreciably better after Elias took over. They had a 108-loss season in 2019, went 25-35 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season then lost another 110 games in 2021.

Though all the losing was expected, it was hard for Elias to watch the Orioles struggle so badly. However, he said it wasn’t even more difficult for manager Brandon Hyde and the rest of the uniformed personnel.

“It's a lot harder on the (coaching) staff because they spend hours and hours preparing for that night’s game,” Elias said. “I think it’s easier for the front office to intellectualize that there are good things going on in the minor leagues, preparing for the draft, things like that.

“If you’re a major-league coach and you’re experiencing failure and that’s all you feel -- even though we had some good individual player accomplishments in 2019 and 2021 – it was tough on those guys and I’m really happy Brandon Hyde and the coaches got to experience 2022 and 2023."

Big steps forward in Baltimore

The Orioles’ turnaround began in 2022 when they went 83-79, a 31-win improvement over the previous season, and stayed in the pennant race until late September.

However, even the most optimistic person in the organization did not foresee what happened this year. The Orioles won their first AL East title since 2014 and just second since 1997 while notching their first 100-win season since 1980.

“The first feeling is relief,” Elias said of winning the division. “We were very confident we were doing the right thing and going about things the right way but there’s so much fortune involved.

"When the team started turning the corner in 2022, you could feel the sense of relief that all the hard work, all the things you were explaining to the fan base, were happening. So that was a great feeling.

“We had so many people come into this project and kind of roll their sleeves up, who had a lot of experience in baseball and also in rebuilds that it gave me a lot of confidence the whole time that the people we had were going to pull something off.

"But whether or not we were ever going to win the American League East, that was never something I was hanging my hat on. That’s a very special accomplishment.”

One more hurdle for Mike Elias

The Orioles, though, have something more they want to accomplish and that is reaching the World Series for the first time since 1983 (when they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies).

How the Orioles played in 2023 does not feel like a fluke. They have a burgeoning superstar in catcher Adley Rutschma and the likely AL Rookie of the Year in third baseman Gunnar Henderson. They have an outfield of Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander, as well as first baseman Ryan Mountcastle and second baseman Jordan Westburg.

All are 29 or younger and they might be joined in the opening day lineup by 19-year-old shortstop Jackson Holliday, the first overall pick in the 2022 and consensus top prospect in baseball.

Elias’ task this winter is to bolster a pitching staff that could better complement the lineup. The Orioles will also be without All-Star closer Felix Bautista next season after he underwent Tommy John elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in September.

“We have a group of young major league players that we wouldn’t trade for any other group in baseball,” Elias said. “There’s an incredible core and there is also a group of veterans who were homegrown by the organization that are coming back. The main nucleus of the team is in place. Now, we need to improve our pitching if we’re going to take the next step.”

It will be interesting to see what Baltimore does in the offseason and if the team can continue to progress in the next campaign.