So the additions of Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal will bring the Orioles up to speed with analytics. The team, over time, will no doubt become one of the top clubs at making data-driven decisions.
But while analytics have been used by teams to attempt to make good decisions for the future as they evaluate players, the next area of influence is likely to come on game day. And during the game. This is happening now to some degree, and maybe for some teams to a very large degree.
Teams are using the...
The information and data age in baseball is here. It's been here for years now and we are not going back to a day when most fans only focused on batting average, home runs and RBIs for batters. Or wins and ERA for pitchers.
The game has advanced way beyond those numbers. And, of course, those that work in a baseball front office are way ahead of most of us, and have been for a while now.
As new Orioles general manager Mike Elias and his staff upgrade and enhance the club's use of analytics,...
Does rebuilding a baseball team have a beginning and an end?
That is an interesting question that came up in our comments section yesterday. Are the Orioles done tearing down their roster? Does the rebuild truly begin now that Mike Elias has taken over baseball operations?
I don't think you can put a date on a beginning and an end here unless you truly consider winning the World Series as the culmination. If that's the case, we'll have our date. But my opinion is that rebuilding is an...
While beginning the year with multiple Rule 5 draft picks on a major league roster is something that just may not work out, the rebuilding 2019 Orioles might have to consider starting the year with at least one Rule 5 pick.
The Orioles have the No. 1 pick in the Dec. 13 Rule 5 draft that brings an end to the upcoming Winter Meetings. And when you have your pick of every eligible player not on another team's 40-man roster, there is really no reason not to make that pick. The Orioles can always...
Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb went 5-15 with an ERA of 4.90 in 2018, his highest ERA in any full season in his career. But a season that started terribly for him got better as it went along - a lot better - providing hope for what he might provide the rotation in 2019.
Signed to a four-year deal worth $57 million last March, Cobb had an ERA of 6.41 and a WHIP of 1.576 in the first half. But in 11 starts after the All-Star break, he went 3-3 with a 2.56 ERA and 1.156 WHIP. His ERA was fifth in...
The next big move for the Orioles, or one of them, will certainly be the hiring of a new manager. New general manager Mike Elias said the background work on managerial candidates had already begun the day he met the media for the first time on Monday. He would not put a timetable on the hiring and seemed to want to be thorough in his search for Buck Showalter's successor.
I'm not sure we just could put down on paper exactly what the Orioles need in a new skipper and then find someone that...
The Orioles added Frederick, Md., native Branden Kline to their 40-man roster on Oct. 30 and it was pretty much a no brainer. They added a young pitcher with a big arm who was once one of their top draft picks.
Kline returned strong this year after three seasons from 2015-2017 that were impacted by his Tommy John surgery in the fall of 2015 and complications after the procedure.
Kline made eight starts to begin the 2015 season for Double-A Bowie, but didn't pitch after late May, and his elbow...
When the Orioles took the field against the Philadelphia Phillies for the 1983 World Series, there was plenty of motivation, and not just to win the championship. The Orioles were also out to avenge two heartbreakers - losing a 3-1 lead in the 1979 World Series and losing the 1982 American League East title on the season's final day.
The Orioles lost the series opener 2-1 to the Phillies at Memorial Stadium, but that would be their only loss. They took the series in five games, completing the...
We have a pretty good source that essentially informed us that the Orioles need to dramatically upgrade their usage of analytics moving forward. The source is the players on the 2018 Orioles.
It was not a good look for the organization when, after Kevin Gausman and Brad Brach were traded to Atlanta and Zach Britton was dealt to the Yankees, that all three spoke about being exposed to much more analytical data and information with their new clubs.
Whatever the problem was in Baltimore, it needed...
When the Orioles added right-hander Dillon Tate to their 40-man roster yesterday, that brought the number of players added in the July trades to seven on the 40-man. The others are pitchers Cody Carroll, Luis Ortiz, Evan Phillips and Josh Rogers, and infielders Jonathan Villar and Breyvic Valera.
The 24-year-old Tate was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 draft by Texas out of UC-Santa Barbara. The Rangers traded him to the Yankees on Aug. 1, 2016 and the Yankees traded him with Carroll and...
If you think that everything is wrong with the Orioles because they lost 115 games last year, and that their minor league system is bad, there is at least one person who does not agree with you. That is new executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias.
Was the new man in charge just being nice or does he look around and truly see some things to like and some players here that could help the next winning team in Baltimore?
In his introduction yesterday to the Orioles media - and, by...
During a 40-minute introductory session with reporters today televised live on MASN, new O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias provided some details on how he will try to duplicate success stories he was previously involved with in St. Louis and Houston.
"We're going to build an elite talent pipeline," Elias said. Of the players now in the organization, he said, "There are some future stars in the system and some really good pitchers."
The soon-to-be 36-year-old...
As the Orioles introduce Mike Elias today as their new executive vice president and general manager, we will hear from him for the first time as an Oriole. It should be a great opportunity for Elias to present his vision and plan for the future.
There are no handbooks or sure-fire guidelines for rebuilding baseball teams, and there must be many ways to build a winner, but things that have worked for a long time still work in the sport.
Like starting with a strong foundation in scouting and...
It is several months away. but another big decision that new Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias will have to make is which player to take with the No. 1 pick in the June 2019 First-Year Player Draft.
For just the second time in Baltimore Orioles history, the club will have the top pick next June. That is since the draft began in 1965. In 1989 selecting first overall, the Orioles took LSU right-hander Ben McDonald. The Orioles have never had the No. 2 pick, and...
New Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias will no doubt hit the ground running. He'll be introduced to the Baltimore media at the Warehouse on Monday.
Elias for now inherits several staff members already in place and some scouts likely already have contracts in place for the 2019 season. Other staff likely does as well. There is nothing wrong with this and no one coming in would change everything. There will no doubt be some members in the front office that Elias...
The Orioles made the expected announcement today, that Mike Elias will head up their baseball operations, and they made it clear that his leadership and vision will take this team through the rebuilding process. He is the top decision maker.
Elias' title is executive vice president and general manager. A club announcement states that "Elias will oversee all baseball operations for the club and have full autonomy to build his staff and make decisions on all baseball matters that he believes...
Not long after Mike Elias' addition to head up Orioles baseball operations is made official, one of his first big moves will be choosing which manager he hires to succeed Buck Showalter. Would Elias consider someone from Houston?
If he does, he could look to Astros bench coach Joe Espada, who has interviewed for multiple managing openings this year, including in Toronto. He's been a hot candidate after serving just one season as Houston bench coach. He joined the staff in 2018, replacing Alex...
There is a lot to like about Mike Elias, who is expected to soon officially join the Orioles and head up the club's baseball operations. He got his start in scouting in a sharp and smart St. Louis Cardinals organization. He worked closely in Houston with general manager Jeff Luhnow for perhaps the most progressive and forward-thinking organization in the majors.
Elias saw Houston lose 107 and 111 games in his first two years in that organization in 2012 and 2013, and then was a big part of...
I was not among the writers assigned to vote for the American League Cy Young Award this year, but that doesn't keep me from having an opinion on who should win.
First, a quick look at the three finalists. In alphabetical order they are Corey Kluber of Cleveland, Blake Snell of Tampa Bay and Justin Verlander of Houston. Kluber won the AL Cy Young in both 2014 and 2017 and was third in 2016. Verlander won in 2011, finished second in 2012 and 2016 and has been in the top five six times.
Kluber...
The Orioles rotation was bad - really bad - during the 2017 season. The team ERA for its starters was 5.70, was last in the American League and was the highest rotation ERA in Orioles history, which of course, began in 1954.
While the rotation ERA was a tick better last year at 5.48, that still rated last in the AL, and a case could be made that it wasn't that much better than the disaster of 2017.
The 2018 rotation pitched fewer innings than the year before (846 to 833 2/3) and posted a...