Elias on today's activity, pitching, Givens, Rutschman and more

SAN DIEGO - Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias isn't the lone wolf of the Winter Meetings in 2019.

He has a manager. He has a broader staff that can be deployed throughout the Manchester Grand Hyatt and on the minor league property. He can conduct business in a manner more befitting a major league executive, at least on a club undergoing a massive teardown and rebuild.

"It's definitely a lot more focused," Elias said earlier today.

"It's been pretty busy. We have ongoing conversations on trade and free agent fronts. I would characterize all of those as pretty basic and preliminary at this point. But just getting the staff together, the group together, getting organized. We have a number of our evaluators here preparing for the Rule 5 draft, but also available to us as trade talks come up. We're looking at other teams' players and their systems, these guys are available."

The Orioles are able to spread out and visit with the vendors on the analytic side. Tapping more into technology that is such a huge component of their operation.

"I think that's nice that we have the manpower for that and the sense of calm to look at that stuff rather than just trying to keep the trains running," Elias said.

Also included in today's activity was interviewing candidates for bullpen coach and multiple scouting and strength coach positions.

"So Sig (Mejdal) and Matt Blood and Eve Rosenbaum and Brad Ciolek and Mike Snyder, they're all running around interviewing some job candidates, as well, so we've got a lot going on," Elias said.

The Orioles are trying to find three or four starting pitchers from outside the organization and some veteran middle infielders.

"I think we'll make progress toward that," Elias said, "but it's such a tight timeline, and even when an agreement's reached, there's a physical exam involved and it's hard to cram all that into a Monday to Thursday schedule. But I do think we're going to make a lot of progress toward our pursuits in those areas."

Asked for the number of starting pitching candidates that he's seeking, Elias replied, "As many as possible."

He smiled, but there's a lot of truth in that response.

"There are guys with obvious inside tracks. (Alex) Cobb is healthy, so that's good. (John) Means, certainly. Even somebody like (Asher) Wojciechowski that wouldn't necessarily be going into spring training as a frontrunner for a rotation spot, he's kind of earned a right of first refusal with how he pitched for us. Then a lot of the guys who are in Triple-A, some of whom were outrighted off the roster, are candidates.

"In addition to that group, we're still going to be looking and hoping for three or four more external additions, either minor league free agents who are not on the roster in spring training or possibly guys that we commit major league contracts to."

The Orioles are expected to keep prospects Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer and Bruce Zimmermann at Triple-A Norfolk to begin the season. However, Elias said Akin will compete for a job in spring training.

"As I've said before, he had a great year in Triple-A, especially with the type of offensive numbers that were happening in Triple-A this year," Elias said. "He's one of the better young pitchers in the International League. Loved the strikeouts, the fact that he pitched deep into games for most of the year. Even though he had like a 4-something ERA this year in the International League, for a 24-year-old, that's pretty impressive. The downside is that he still walks a few too many hitters, so I think that's something that we'll be keeping an eye on in spring training.

"I know that Brandon (Hyde) ... we were just talking about him and Brandon hasn't seen him pitch personally yet, so I think that will be good. He's going to be looking to turn some heads in spring training. I'm excited to see him.

"Kremer and Zimmermann haven't spent nearly as much time in Triple-A. They're knocking on the door and I hope they have really good Triple-A seasons, especially from the get-go, and yeah, starting to get exciting seeing some of these names creeping up and pitch well. Kremer had a good fall league. (Michael) Baumann is somebody that we're going to have to make a decision on, whether to send him back to (Double-A) Bowie since he only spent half a year there or whether to just put him in Norfolk, but he's getting close. DL Hall has recovered from that lat injury he had, and assuming he has a normal spring training, he's going to go to Double-A this year, so that will be exciting."

Kyle Bradish, part of the four-pitcher return for Dylan Bundy, will be assigned to Bowie.

"It's going to be a pretty strong group," Elias said. "I think that's something that as the Baltimore Orioles, we're going to need a lot of internal pitching options because as we all know, this division, it's a tough place to pitch. The more we can bring in internally, the better we're going to be the next few years."

Elias indicated that most of the trade talks today were initiated by teams checking on available veterans, though he didn't mention anyone specifically.

"That said, we have inquired on middle infield options and pitching options that can help us stabilize the roster for 2020," Elias said, "but it's difficult to line up on some of that when you're a rebuilding team and you're not really in the mood to expend prospect capital. So it just take a lot of dialogue."

Reliever Mychal Givens falls into that category of a veteran who intrigues other clubs. The Orioles aren't labeling him as a traditional closer or setup man. Elias regards him simply as "our best relief pitcher."

"So however Brandon or we wanted to deploy that on a given night, I think it depends on your philosophies and where you are in the lineup and the leverage index and all of that fancy stuff," Elias said. "But he's our best, most trusted relief arm and whether that lands him in the closer's role for us or if he's somebody that comes in and gets (Giancarlo) Stanton or (Aaron) Judge in the seventh or eighth inning, as he's done before, it's a nightly decision."

The risk in this approach is how it might impact Givens' value.

"I don't know the answer to that," Elias said. "People are very aware of his strikeout rates and the quality of his stuff and his body of work over years with the Orioles teams, both good and bad, of the last four or five years.

"I do think that other teams, if I were in their shoes, you look at the amount that he has to shoulder in our bullpen relative to one where there are a lot of other helping hands, it's something to consider. But I think mostly people, when they're evaluating Mike, it's the same thing that we all see - the punchout stuff, the electric arm, the athleticism. And regardless of the role that he's in, you know that he's a plus-reliever."

The Winter Meetings also can allow Elias to gauge the interest in outfielder/first baseman Trey Mancini.

"You learn a lot of information about all your players," he said. "I think the one thing that's nice for me this year versus a year ago is I have not just like an academic understanding of who they are and not just their trade value, but their value to us and their skill levels. I've kind of lived it for a year and know what types of conversations have taken place surrounding these players last year at this time, the trade deadline and this winter. So I have a lot more comfort for what that is.

"But, yeah, sometimes somebody jumps up and gets super interested in a player all of a sudden and you never know when that's going to happen. That could happen this week, it could be later on. You never know."

The first acquisition for the Orioles today was right-hander Marco Diplán, claimed off waivers from the Tigers.

"We have roster space," Elias said. "He's a very interesting arm. He's a former top prospect who's still very young. He's got an elite fastball, a pretty good slider, especially to right-handed hitters, and his changeup is intriguing. I mean, really on the come.

"He has walked a few too many guys in his career and he still hasn't gotten out of Double-A, but given the upside and the age and the prospect pedigree, just a little more interesting than your usual guy on waivers. Especially for a team in our situation. I think that's why you saw Detroit grab him. They were probably thinking the same thing. So we'll see how it goes the rest of the offseason and what we do with the roster spots, but I can easily see him being somebody that comes into camp and you hope it's clicked and we may have really found something.

"He does have an option remaining, too, so that's enticing for us. If he needs to spend time in Triple-A and keep developing, or if he just needs to be one of these guys that can be optioned during the season, we've got that going for us as well."

Elias also said catcher Adley Rutschman, the first overall pick in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft, will be in camp with the Orioles next spring. However, he didn't commit to Rutschman being on the roster as an invite.

"We would love to get him over to the major league side," Elias said. "He's a catcher, which is always useful, and I think it's great exposure for him to start seeing the major league side of spring training and really learn the whole organization.

"I think I'll hold back on that (invite) until we make those decisions, but I'm pretty confident saying fans that come to spring training, especially the early part of spring training, will get a good look at him."