Elias on search for pitching, decisions on Coulombe and Webb, Mateo's role and more

In executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias’ session earlier today with media at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, he provided an update on the search for starting pitching and a willingness to explore every option available.

Here are some quick hits.

* Surrendering a draft pick for a pitcher who rejected the qualifying offer isn’t a deal-breaker for the Orioles.

“We’re in on everybody,” Elias said. “We’re talking to everybody. When there’s aspects of the rules that create wrinkles, you’ve got to weigh them, so we do that. But there is no player that we’re not interested in or pursuing in some shape or fashion if we feel like the talent is additive to the current roster that we have."

* Elias is immersed in trade talks that also could remove major league talent from his roster.

“There aren’t too many teams making their major league players available for prospects right now,” he said. “Those that are, we’re deeply engaged with those teams. Those that aren’t in that mode, we’re exploring more major league-for-major league kind of trades, which obviously take unique fits on the rosters.”

* An ace and mid-rotation starter are possibilities.

"I like where the rotation’s starting from this year, but we’re trying to augment it, trying to supplement it, trying to fortify it,” he said. “We’re doing that both through free agency and trade, exploring those avenues."

* Getting a No. 1 starter is complicated by the number of teams vying for them.

“Very confident shopping in it, and we have been, we continue to be, but the competition is enormous,” Elias said. “Last year, we were able to figure out a way to get a top-of-the-rotation starter. I don’t think that’s something that all 30 teams pull off every year, but we’re all trying. So I'm gonna do my best to figure it out and we’ll make sure we have a really good team at the end of this offseason. And I think that’s the main goal here.”

* The Orioles could get two starters before Opening Day.

"I think it is possible,” Elias said. “There are scenarios where I could see that happening, but no guarantees."

* Elias is checking the relief market and didn’t dismiss the possibility of re-signing Danny Coulombe or Jacob Webb.

“I could see scenarios where we acquire more relievers, including (Coulombe and Webb),” he said. “We’ve got the whole pitching market up on the board and we’re just trying to find a place where we can find a deal and we can strike.”

* The decisions made on Coulombe and Webb weren’t solely based on their elbow injuries.

“There’s all kinds of talent evaluation that goes into decisions that we make. There’s economic decisions, there’s roster construction decisions. Every baseball move that we make is a combination of a number of factors. There’s other players that might be competing for spots. There’s just so much of it.

“Those guys are great pitchers, they’re healthy, they were a big part of our past success, but a part of being a front office or a general manager … These rosters are dynamic. You have to think about what’s ahead, and you’re not able to keep every player that you like at all times at any cost, and so we have to do a balancing act when we’re curating our roster. Sometimes that involves making tough decisions much earlier in the offseason than you’d like to when you don’t have a full picture of what’s going to happen and you don’t have a crystal ball and you have to make some decisions early in the offseason. But it doesn’t close the door.”

* It's too early to get an exact read on Jorge Mateo's role, but it should include the outfield.

"There's things that could influence that in one direction or another," Elias said. "But a big part of his value is he's a plus-defender in the infield and in the outfield. Now that we have some more young infielders joining the mix, it gives us an opportunity to utilize his outfield play perhaps. That's something that we'll sit down with him and talk about in spring training once we have a full roster picture. But he's really good at it and that's part of what makes him so exciting is the ability to plug and play him in so many different areas and then have him be an above-average defender in those areas."

* Elias is aware of owner David Rubenstein’s feeling of urgency to win a World Series.

“He’s extremely energetic," Elias said. "He’s extremely passionate about making this franchise as good as it can be. We’re in a really good mode right now. We’re coming off back-to-back playoff years, so we have a really good chance over the next few years we think to continue to be a playoff team, and with that we hope deep playoff runs are part of that. He wants to do everything we can do within our power and within our skill set to approach that correctly, and there’s measurement to how you go about this business. There’s give and take. You can’t do everything that you want to do all the time in a lot of cases, so we’re working together to figure out what the right recipe is. But the support from him and his group for our baseball operations department and just in investing in the franchise is as good as it can be. It’s excellent.”