Mike Elias' attempts to deflect responsibility for Orioles' struggles don't pass smell test

Baltimore Orioles President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias met with the media on Friday to give some updates on the Orioles' crowded injured list and to field some questions. At the time, the Orioles were below .500, and with the expectations coming into the season and the "soft" schedule the Orioles faced up to this point, it was a disappointing record. Naturally, Elias was asked some questions about the Orioles slow start.

Elias, in an attempt to back up his squad, gave a variety of answers along the lines that he was not worried about the Orioles repeating last year's failures. One of those quotes raised an eyebrow, in regard to the 2026 Orioles avoiding the path the  2025 Orioles, he said the following:

“Our young guys, having gone through that experience last year, I think they’re much more steeled against it, and very, very hopeful that they’re not going to allow something like that to happen."

What stands out about this quote is the use of the word allow, which lays the blame for the 2025 season at the feet of the players. What's implied there is that the players on the 2025 Orioles allowed that season to happen.

Mike Elias does not want you to believe that the Orioles' 2025 season was the result of flawed team building

Obviously, the players bear some of the responsibility for their season. After all, they are the ones on the field. However, the 2025 Orioles were as clear an example of a team set up to fail by their front office as anyone has seen in recent years.

The Orioles went into that offseason in desperate need of starting pitching. There were multiple All-Star starting pitchers available in free agency. The big names were Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, and Max Fried, but Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, and Matthew Boyd were also available, and all went on to pitch like all-stars in the following seasons. Even veterans like Sonny Gray, Yusei Kikuchi, or Luis Severino would have been solid upgrades for the Orioles. That’s a lot of options!

Instead, the Orioles' big pitching acquisitions were Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, and Kyle Gibson. The Orioles lost the first 16 games that Morton and Gibson pitched in. The Orioles finished 12 games under .500. That was the season right there!

Was it Morton and Gibson's fault that they were getting blasted out of these games, or was it the front office's fault that they were thrust into important roles where they subsequently crumbled? On the position player front, the big offensive reinforcements were Tyler O'Neill and Gary Sanchez. Those guys spent most of the season on the IL and combined to put up negative WAR.

Is that their fault for being hurt? Here's a better question. Was anyone surprised that Tyler O'Neill got hurt? No! It was an incredibly obvious outcome.

There were things that happened during the 2025 season that were not the front office's fault. Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg, and Adley Rutschman ALL missing the bulk of the season with injuries is not necessarily something that they could have foreseen. But if there was one person who deserved the lion's share of the blame for that season, it was the guy who put the team together. Which is why comments talking about the players "allowing" that season to happen feel wrong.

To Elias' credit, the Orioles were more aggressive this offseason, and that is the reason he is correct to be confident. The reason for optimism around the Orioles this year is not because they're "more steeled" against losing but because the front office did their job better this time and acquired multiple talented and dependable players who are already contributing to the team's success.

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