More notes and quotes from yesterday's season-ending press conference at Camden Yards

The reflection period after the last playoff game also covers press conferences in the auxiliary clubhouse at Camden Yards, where the ballpark was eerily quiet yesterday. No one milling around the concourses. No prep work for Game 5 of the American League Division Series.

Sort of like a bug-out but without taking down the tents.

The place will be hoppin’ again next spring. The Orioles open at home against the Angels on March 28.

In the meantime, out of the public eye, team officials are gathering to discuss various points of business. You want specifics? Check back later.

“This is very fresh,” said executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. “We just got off a plane.”

The media arrived in cars and SUVs. It left without breaking news to report.

Elias spoke yesterday for 30 minutes, manager Brandon Hyde for 23. We learned that none of the players are facing a serious medical procedure, and that John Means’ elbow is fine and Félix Bautista will begin rehabbing his elbow in a couple days at the complex in Sarasota. We learned that Elias and Hyde are back in 2024, which was obvious but now is confirmed. We learned that Triple-A shortstop Jackson Holliday, baseball’s top prospect, will be invited to major league spring training. Also obvious, since he was on the camp roster last year.

We don’t know if the Orioles’ payroll will rise beyond second-lowest status. Raises are in store for many of the 16 players eligible for arbitration. The rest could be non-tendered or traded.

“It’s a healthy group,” Elias said. “I think the fact that we have so many, it’s kind of an earmark of having a good roster these days. The teams that have a lot of guys like that, you can look at the franchises and they’re usually in really good shape. It’s a really good group. I’m not going to start talking about specific individual business in any corner of the organization right now, but it’s a really good group of players and they had good seasons and they’re going to get raises through the system.”

Smaller moves should be expected again, the kind that flew under the radar but helped the team soar. For example, first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe, two valuable contributors on modest deals.

This is the more common approach in Baltimore. Trusting the data that calculates projections for improvement and instructors who frequently get more out of players than past employers.

“We don’t win the division or 101 games without Danny Coulombe, Ryan O’Hearn. There’s other people that I’m going to forget, so I don’t want to rattle through the list,” Elias said.

“Great outcomes with those moves. I think it’s a product of having a front office process that’s, in my estimation, sound, but you’re not going to get that all the time and we obviously didn’t hit on 100 percent of the things that we did. I’m happy that it happened, but I’m really focused on trying to do it next year and do better.”

Free agents already found Baltimore to be a desirable spot based on the 2022 improvements and direction the club was headed. The analytic mindset that blended with their offseason workouts and interests.

Win 101 games and a division title, and the sales pitch becomes even easier. Especially with veterans who leave offering strong recommendations to friends and former teammates.

“I sure hope so,” Elias said.

“I think that’s been increasingly the case here the last couple years, and I think we’ve now had Jordan Lyles and Kyle Gibson come here on one-year contracts and have really great years and great experiences. It’s something that’s really important for me to have a good environment for players. We talk constantly about how best to do that. I think it showed this year. I think our clubhouse was wonderful, a lot of people to credit for that. We want this to be a great place to play.”

“I look back at all those players we talked to, the ones who didn’t come here,” Hyde said. “We were pretty right on, we were honest. We thought we were going to be pretty good, we thought they could be a help, we thought that our team was going to be exciting and have a chance to win the AL East, and we were right. Everybody from last year was very interested because of the talent we had on our team and what we were going to look like going forward, and we said what we were going to do. Maybe a little bit more than we thought we were going to do to start the year.

“I think it’s going to be the same way this year, where people are going to see that they enjoy playing here and this is a fun team to be on, and we’re going to win.”

Yesterday’s interviews didn’t provide clarity on the closer role.

Bautista won’t pitch in 2024. The Orioles could sign a late-inning reliever or stay with their internal options.

“Another question that’s been on my mind,” Elias said. “That’s a massive hole. I don’t even think we felt it totally, just with the way the games went after he got hurt. It’s going to be tough to replace him, so we’re going to bring all of our brainpower towards answering that question.”

Tyler Wells closed in 2021 as a Rule 5 selection, went back into the bullpen in September and didn’t allow a hit or run in five innings spanning four appearances. He surrendered only one hit in 3 1/3 shutout innings in the ALDS.

Former first-round draft pick DL Hall returned to the Orioles in August as a reliever again, didn’t allow an earned run in his last seven appearances over 7 1/3 innings, and struck out six batters in 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the ALDS.

The guess here is they report to spring training and are stretched out to start, with the possibility of going back to the ‘pen. But it also makes sense for planning purposes to decide on their roles early. To know in advance before negotiating with free agents and rival executives.

“I’m going to plead the fifth again and not talk about specifics with the roster or the offseason,” Elias said.

“Both of those guys had difficult years. Tyler Wells, to start the season and be disappointed he didn’t make the All-Star team, and then for whatever reason just kind of run out of gas or just not have your weapons at your disposal that you’re used to in the second half. Go to Triple-A, get through that, and then come up and then pitch like nails in a playoff race at a time when he was badly needed was inspiring to watch.

“I wasn’t surprised. I know what he’s wired like and I wasn’t surprised. We were counting on him, and he came through.

“DL, all the injuries and going to Florida and just being off the grid, and just getting it all together at the exact perfect moment when we needed him most is one of the many things that I’m very proud of with this group of guys.”

Hyde confirmed that Hall’s role hasn’t been discussed.

“I’m just so excited how he threw the ball in September and how he threw the ball on the national stage,” Hyde said. “Whatever we decide to do with him, he’s going to be a huge part of our team next year.

“Down the stretch and in the postseason, he showed everybody the kind of pitcher that we’ve been waiting for, and he’s going to be a big impact for us going forward.”

Elias also confirmed with one word that outfielders Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad could be on the Opening Day roster.

“Yeah,” he said.

Again, this wasn’t the time for deep dives.

Pushing back and raising the left field wall was done two seasons ago but remains a topic of interest. An obsession for some. It won’t change in 2024, but adjustments could be made in the future.

“I’m glad we did it,” Elias said. “It coincided with winning baseball in Baltimore and a better style of baseball, which is one of the things we talked about. Is it perfect? Is it the exact perfect dimensions? Does it look perfect? Is it going to stay that way forever? No, and I don’t know, but we’re going to be renovating the stadium through this new (stadium lease) agreement in the next few years. I don’t have any specifics, but I’m totally open to that being on the table, especially from maybe a smoothness or aesthetics standpoint. I think that’s something we should talk about and take a look at.

“But I definitely like not having the most ridiculously homer-prone left field in the league. That wasn’t good, so we changed it as quickly and realistically as we could at the time. And it seems like it worked.”

Hyde didn’t deviate much from his usual managing approach in the ALDS. Elias has stood firmly in Hyde’s corner through thin and now thick.

“I thought he had an unbelievable season,” Elias said. “He's going to win Manager of the Year. He should. If he doesn’t, I don’t know what happened. He had a great season.”

The finish left Hyde irritated and disappointed.

“The way it ended was awful and it sucked, and we’re wearing that still,” Hyde said. “It was a really successful season and overcoming so many odds and obstacles that are against us and so many people thinking that we weren’t going to be a playoff team, and all of a sudden we win 101 games and win the American League East, that says a lot about a lot of people in the organization. A lot of guys in that clubhouse. So really proud of that.

“We had so many awesome moments and huge wins and close wins, and the amount of close games we played was ridiculous. And how we won some games during the season, it was just a total team effort, and that’s how we played all year. Unfortunately, in the postseason we just didn’t play our best and ran into a little bit of a buzz saw, but I’m going to have great memories of this team.”

Hyde talked to his club again Wednesday morning and on the flight home.

“I think guys are very disappointed, but I think they’re very aware of what they accomplished this year, and they should,” he said. “It’s really, really hard what we did, and it’s really, really hard what we did after losing 110 games two years ago. That’s unprecedented. So, they need to know that and they need to understand that.

“We came up short of what we expected out of ourselves, but there’s a lot to be proud of, and the guys are going to be back. There’s going to be a lot to look forward to because they’re really good players.”

Elias said criticisms about any shortcomings should be directed at him. No one else.

Does Hyde have any regrets or second-guesses over his handling of the team in the ALDS?

“Whenever we lose any sort of game, whether it’s in April or the postseason, I take it harder than anybody else, so when things don’t work out the way you want them to work out, I wear it big-time,” he said.

“I take losses hard.”