Mike Elias on getting data and analytics to the players

LAS VEGAS - As the Orioles move heavily into the analytics age in baseball, they are going to be cognizant of how that information gets to their players in a manner that is helpful to them. Bombarding them with data that won't lead to a better performance doesn't accomplish much.

New Orioles general manger Mike Elias knows how to get this job done. He was part of a front office that was on the cutting edge of doing this in Houston. In Baltimore, his front office and coaches will try to help individual players as much as they can, but won't insist every player has to change anything in their approach or preparation to incorporate the data.

So just how does analytics get to the clubhouse?

"Well, we cultivate and analyze the data in the front office," Elias said. "We bring that information in digestible ways to the coaches and to the players. Now they are the customers. So we want to cater that information to them, the way they think, the way they operate their needs. It's a cooperative back and forth relationship and experience if you do it properly."

The coaches will be vital here. While the new manager will hire his coaches, those coaches will need to be a strong go-between with the front office and players. I asked Elias today during a one-on-one interview for "MASN All Access" if certain coaches - like the hitting coach and pitching coach, specifically - are more important in this process.

"I think it depends on the makeup of your staff," said Elias. "But we seek coaches that are fluent in that information and part of their job - a big part of their job - is to translate and distill that information. Not just to every player but to each particular player because they know those players well, they know their psychology. They know how they like to think during the game. That is a huge part of the job now. And the ability to traffic in that information and convey it in a useful way is a key component to coaching, not just in the majors, but in the minor leagues today."

So what if a player is not receptive to analytics? Is Elias going to be OK with that?

"Yeah. Like I said, the player is the customer," he said. "If something works better for them, or if a certain type of information or a certain amount of information works better for them, we adjust to their needs. The important thing though is that they understand where the information is coming from, what is behind it, what the science behind it is. So they know it's not something that is being created arbitrarily."

No manager yet: Elias today called reports that he has hired Chicago Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde to be the next Orioles manager "premature."

"I will say very clearly it's a premature report," he said during a late afternoon interview with Baltimore reporters at the Winter Meetings. This session in Elias' suite occurred as the scroll on the bottom of his television, tuned to MLB Network, said the Orioles would hire Hyde to be their skipper.

Elias said he had not made a final decision on his manager and had not made a contract offer to anyone. He said it was unlikely that a manager will be hired before these Winter Meetings end on Thursday.

When the new Orioles manager is eventually hired, he will be someone that Elias will have an incredibly close working relationship with.

"The stream of communication now between the front office and the manager's office is constant," he said. "I view this position as not just a manager, but also an extension of our front office. It's somebody who is involved in all manner of decisions in baseball operations and things that are going on in the minor leagues, trade talks, free agent talks. Really, the scope of the job is just enormous."

In ending an interview with Elias today, I asked him if he had time to notice that Orioles fans seem to be very supportive of his hiring and that he's already got a lot of fans in Baltimore.

"It's terrific," he said. "I know what a passionate fan base this is. I know what a baseball town this is. And, certainly, be it personal interactions that I've had with the people of Baltimore and just the outpouring of support on social media, it's very inspirational. It just makes me want to do a good job. I can't wait for the season to start so I can actually see more and more fans at the ballpark."