AL exec floats nightmare scenario for Orioles that may actually happen this offseason

The Baltimore Orioles front office has understandably received a lot of criticism in 2025. Not only have the Orioles underperformed expectations on the field, but Baltimore did little to address what seemed to be very obvious roster holes last offseason, and there are some lingering questions regarding their player development and their decisions on who to promote and when. If one AL exec is to be believed, Orioles fans may want to expect more of the same.

Most reports leading up to this coming offseason have been that the Orioles could finally be aggressive in free agency and trades. Adley Rutschman trade rumors have been flying left and right, especially after Samuel Basallo was called up and extended. Many experts think it is a given that Baltimore will finally make a move to build a real pitching staff.

For the most part, those opinions remain true. In comments to MLB's Mark Feinsand, multiple MLB execs said they thought the Orioles would be just fine if they added some pitching and expected Mike Elias and Co. to turn things back around this coming offseason. However, one anonymous AL executive said that he didn't think that Baltimore was going to change their ways at all.

At least one AL exec thinks the Orioles will treat this coming offseason like all the others

In fairness here, the same exec seemed to believe that the Orioles staying the course was a good thing and generally seemed to like what the club was doing at a fundamental level. The exact quote was, “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they didn’t overreact to a Murphy’s Law year, stuck true to their past ideals, and took a similar approach as they have in previous offseasons. Staying with a good process in the face of poor outcomes is hard to do, but that’s a group that has the fortitude to separate the baby from the bathwater.”

That is all fine and dandy for those who completely believe in what Elias is doing in the Orioles’ front office from a process perspective, and maybe that is wise. However, that is little consolation for a fanbase that ended the 2024 season thinking that the organization had brighter days ahead, now that they have new owners with deep pockets, only to have those hopes dashed over and over again.

No one is arguing that the Orioles should turn into the Dodgers and buy every free agent they can get their hands on (although that would be fun). Being smart with one's resources and leaning on their young core is fine. However, it is on the front office to support that core with real additions if Baltimore is truly serious about wanting to contend. Hopefully, this one baseball executive is wrong about them staying the course.

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