Latest Elias interview reviews shopping list and preference to hold onto top prospects

We’ve entered a fresh week and the Orioles, like so many other teams, are waiting to make that huge strike in free agency or via a trade. The 40-man roster underwent some adjustments. Arbitration-eligible players were tendered contracts. Some minor league depth moves have been completed, with more to come.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias appeared yesterday on MLB Network Radio, and he barely heard his introduction before a host playfully asked when he would announce his first big move of the offseason.

“You want to do it right now?” Elias asked, playing along with the bit. “I’ve got to make one first.”

Talks were held at the general managers meetings in San Antonio and will heat up again at next month’s Winter Meetings in Dallas. Elias is talking to other executives and to agents. But the shopping list remains the same.

“We’re working on it,” he said.

“I think things are slowly taking shape out in the market, and I would expect that going into the Winter Meetings, kind of typically it feels like the market will get going.”

A few trades have been consummated in baseball, like the Reds sending second baseman Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Wiemer to the Royals for starter Brady Singer. But the Hot Stove isn’t going to scorch fingers if touched.

“I don’t think we’ve had too many free agent signings yet, so it’s hard to say that it’s too active,” Elias said. “Everyone’s talking and there are some really big fish out there that I think people are paying a lot of attention to. I think it’s a pretty standard pace for this time of year. I think one thing that’s noteworthy is, I don’t know that there are that many clubs in an announced rebuild right now, so it makes the trade market a little bit skewed toward a lot of teams trying to improve their rosters. And so trades I think, like the one we saw the other day, are more major league for major league types of conversations to be had out there.”

Elias confirmed again his desire to land a starting pitcher, right-handed bat and backup catcher. He’s said the same to local media. And he hasn’t quit on the idea of re-signing ace Corbin Burnes and 44-homer-hitting right fielder Anthony Santander.  

“I think the way we’re looking at it is, we’ve got a team that is by and large coming back, that is by and large young enough to where you’re expecting a lot of improvement from a lot of the young players,” he said. “We’ve also got some players back that we acquired at the trade deadline, namely Zach Eflin and some other arms, and so we’re starting from a good spot, but we’re also at a place where our best starter last year and also a guy who threw 194 innings is in free agency right now. And our switch-hitting middle-of-the-order bat is in free agency right now.

“We’ve got a lot of pros in terms of retention and who we’re bringing back and a lot of positive starting points there, but it is fearful having those two guys out in the market and knowing that signing them back would be ideal, but if we’re not able to, we have to back fill that production. And for us, we have a lot of left-handed outfielders right now. We’ve got Cedric Mullins, Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad, Ryan O’Hearn. And as Tony’s out in free agency right now, it’s his right-handed at-bats that I think are the most striking to us. We’re missing a lot of right-handed production. Austin Hays and Austin Slater were on the team at different times last year. They’re gone. So we’re really focused on right-handed outfielders on the position player side, and then starting pitchers on the rotation side of things. So, that’s kind of what we’re starting with.

“We also need more catching to go with Adley Rutschman James McCann is a free agent right now, so we’ve got a lot of guys who have been big parts of this team that are exploring free agency right now. Hope we can bring them back. But we also need to look at those profiles out in the market place, too, while we’re at it.”

The farm system lost its No. 1 ranking with prospects graduating and reaching the majors, but it’s still viewed in the industry as loaded. The question is which ones are on the table. Elias has shown a reluctance or dug in his heels when it comes to parting with the top guys. Because of it, there are assumptions that he’d rather hold onto corner infielder Coby Mayo, the No. 1 prospect in the system and No. 8 in baseball per MLB Pipeline, catcher Samuel Basallo (Nos. 2 and 13) and elite runner and center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. (No. 4 in the system).

Trade talks can stall before the engine is revved.

“Very, very difficult,” Elias said. “We’ve quietly traded a lot of players in the last nine or 10 months or so. It’s in the double digits to bring in pitching - Corbin Burnes, Zach Eflin, what have you. We’ve made a lot of those moves. And it had been more difficult getting into the conversations because our farm system, so deep and a lot of blue chip position player prospects. You’re talking to another GM, trying to be reasonable, trying to find a deal, and then saying ‘no’ to your first seven or eight players on your list. It takes some time to get through all that. But we really did believe strongly that those players were of that caliber.

“Just to name a couple, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser, they’ve kind of proven that with their debuts, how well they played and this is the way we’ve seen these guys. And even the trades we’ve made, they weren’t our top six or seven prospects at the time and it was extremely painful. Joey Ortiz is gonna have a very good career. He’s with the Brewers now. So, there’s just a lot of good players that you give up. You smile watching them do well. You also want teams to know that you’re willing to trade players that you feel good about so that when they go to another organization, they know they’re not getting a lemon, and so you want the guy to do well. But it’s bittersweet to watch. It’s just part of the game.”

Elias described the current upper-echelon position prospects as “really special, elite young bats.”

“It’s just hard to trade those guys almost in any capacity,” he said.” We obviously listen, we have the conversations, but you recognize there’s an enormous amount of value for a franchise, particularly one like ours when you’ve got a player like that that you drafted and developed and have the ability to play for you for six to a decade-plus years. So, it’s tough.”

Mayo had a rough introduction to the majors this summer. He was optioned twice and went 4-for-41 with 22 strikeouts, and the Orioles limited his starts while trying to secure a playoff berth, which became the top Wild Card seed. They aren’t holding a spot for him and the infield is jammed, but they remain confident that he’ll reach his potential and provide enormous power.  

“We do have a good amount of traffic in the infield,” Elias said. “It’s a good mix, and there will be a little bit of mixing and matching. We’ll see how it all plays out. Last year, we had a lot of injuries down the stretch that kind of vaporized our mix, but we’re going to be going in the year fully healthy.”

Elias talked about Gunnar Henderson being the shortstop and Jackson Holliday the second baseman, “kind of anchoring the middle from the left side.” He envisions Westburg at second and third again, with Ramón Urías able to be plugged in those position. He referred to Jorge Mateo as “a big piece of the puzzle we were missing” due to his speed and defense. First base is set with Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn.

Elias noted Mayo’s improvement at third and said “body type” probably brings first base into the equation, though it reduces the impact of a plus arm.

“I think the question of where he plays is going to kind of depend on who his teammates are the next few years and how they’re doing,” Elias said.