Baltimore Orioles: Expectations for Mike Elias at the Winter Meetings

Next week, Mike Elias will head to the Winter Meetings for the first time as the General Manager of the Baltimore Orioles. What will his game plan be before the Rule 5 Draft?

Normally players sign or big trades happen during the Winter Meetings like we saw last winter with Giancarlo Stanton going to the New York Yankees. This will be a different type of Winter Meetings for General Manager Mike Elias and the Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles don’t have a manager in place at the moment, but Elias has been interviewing a few candidates. Would it be totally out of the question if the Orioles big announcement/press conference would be hiring a manager?

If it’s unusual, then the Orioles can be the first team to do it. Since the team is rebuilding, I’m not sure many players would be excited to sign with a team that plans to lose for the next few years. It wouldn’t surprise me if one or two aging veterans sign so they can be part of the winning.

This could be a good learning experience for Mike Elias. He could end up making progress by trading some of the veteran starting pitchers that the Orioles have. It makes sense to move on from some of those contracts.

The Winter Meetings are always an exciting time because this is normally when free agents start to sign with teams or big trades happen. My television is always on MLB Network at this time.

As much as I want the Orioles to make moves, I don’t think they will do anything until the Rule 5 Draft. When Dan Duquette was the General Manager, the Orioles hardly made any moves during the Winter Meetings except during the Rule 5 Draft. It’s like he just didn’t care about anything besides the Rule 5 Draft.

What are your expectations for Mike Elias during his first Winter Meetings as General Manager of the Baltimore Orioles?