2 things Mike Elias said this weekend that sounded like something, but are actually nothing

Baltimore Orioles President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias met with the media on Saturday before the Orioles game against the Washington Nationals. He was asked several questions about his job security, the state of the team he runs, and the attitude of the front office towards the upcoming MLB trade deadline. Some of the quotes that he gave about "going for it" and being "all in" sounded really promising and could make fans think that the front office might actually do something to improve this team in a meaningful way but a further inspection of what Elias said reveals his comments to be the same word salad they always and fans should expect more of the same from this front office as the team spirals out fo contention for the second straight year.

Here is a breakdown of Elias' most headline-grabbing quotes and why they don't mean what they seem to mean.

Mike Elias is not under anymore pressure than usual even though the Orioles are bad

One of the first things that Elias was asked was if he felt pressure about his job based on the way the team was performing. He responded by saying "I always feel a lot of pressure" and later saying "you worry about your job in this business".

That quote makes it sound like Elias is admitting that he feels pressure because of the way the team has performed, which would, in turn, lead you to believe that he is going to do something about it. Not so fast. There is a big difference between saying "with the way the team is playing, I feel pressure and am worried about my job" and "I always feel a lot of pressure".

Saying "I always feel pressure" when asked if you're under pressure is not that different from saying no. If someone is "under pressure" for 20 years, like Elias says he's been. Pressure is a relative thing; every GM in baseball is under some amount of pressure, and when the reporter asked Elias if he felt like he was under pressure, he did not mean in general.

The question meant, are you under more pressure than usual right now becuase the team you built stinks and the team you built last year stunk, and after every loss, Orioles fans across every social media platform imanigable are begging for you to be fired.

Elias, of course, knew what the question meant and masterfully dodged it. He gave an answer that sounds like he's saying what fans want to hear, but in reality, all that he said was that working in a baseball front office is stressful, which everyone already knew.

The only takeaway for Orioles fans from this quote should be that Elias is not under any more pressure than usual this season, and if you're hoping that every humiliating loss the Orioles suffer is going to convince David Rubenstein that his POBO doesn't have what it takes to build a winner, then you're going to be hoping in vain.

Mike Elias is preparing to sell at the upcoming deadline

One of the buzziest things that came out of this media session was Elias' quote when asked about the upcoming trade deadline, where he said: "everybody in the building is in the mindset of going for it in 2026". With the Orioles in such a strange position where the way they look on the field and their record is undeniably bad, but they're just a few games out of a playoff spot, everyone has been wondering if the Orioles are going to sell or buy, and when this quote circulated on Saturday, it seemed like a very affirmative answer that the Orioles were going to buy.

However, if you listen to Elias' full comments, he couldn't have waffled more on this topic. He said "I really hope so" when first asked about buying, and then quickly followed that up with "I'm going to have to look at the circumstances," and then he said that he would "be doing what's best for the franchise regardless".

Once you take out all the talking in circles, his answer to "do you feel like this organization is in a position to buy at this deadline" boils down to I hope so (duh), but if we're too far out of it by the deadline, we'll sell. He just didn't want to say the word sell, but he absolutely telegraphed his intentions to be a seller at the deadline. If you're even thinking about selling or "doing what's best for the franchise" a month before the deadline, then you're probably going to end up selling.

So when the Orioles sell at this deadline, don't be surprised or say, "But what happened to going for it?" There is no going for it with this front office. They don't know what going for it means; they've never gone for it, and they don't plan on ever going for it. Their goal for each season is to be just good enough to sneak into the playoffs and hope the ball bounces their way, and they can't even do that right.

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