Mike Elias plan to fix Orioles’ outfield is taking the easy way out

The Baltimore Orioles have a multitude of needs they need to address this offseason. One of those needs is upgrading their outfield. Tyler O'Neill has underperformed in his two years in Baltimore; Colton Cowser hasn't taken the leap forward that fans and the organization would have hoped he would by now, and other outfield prospects have completely underwhelmed, some to the point of being DFA'd.

The infield is overcrowded with talent, which is another reason the outfield is a key place to upgrade the position player side of the team this offseason. Some people expect that President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias will make a trade, clearing the infield logjam and upgrading the team elsewhere, but his recent comments at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas point to a different solution that Birdland should be up in arms about.

Elias said that he has started to have conversations with some of his infielders about getting some work in the outfield. It wouldn't be a permanent switch, just adding flexibility to their players. That would both open up infield reps for some, while creating extra reps in the field and lineup for others.

MLB.com's Jake Rill wrote that Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo would be the most logical players to make that sort of move. That isn't exactly upgrading the team, though.

There are two reasons that this should upset fans. First: this is just lazy. Second: they only have two infielders (not named Blaze Alexander) with any professional outfield experience, and it's a total of 11 games between the two.

The negatives to this solution to the Orioles outfield problem completely outweigh the positives

Let's start at the first one. The Orioles offense needs serious upgrades if they want to compete in an extremely competitive division. Baltimore is the only AL East team not to make the playoffs in the last two seasons, and three of their division foes have been in the World Series in the last three years.

Elias is in a perfect spot to turn one of his prized infielders into a star player. It doesn't have to be an outfielder either; he could upgrade the rotation with one. Coby Mayo and Jordan Westburg would have teams interested in giving up a star player for the right return. Instead of committing to making that type of move, he is trying to get them to learn a new position.

Not only does that not bring in an upgrade at any position, but it could be a downgrade. Players learning new positions can deal with some struggles during the transition, and with more focus on learning a new defensive position, their offense can suffer.

Second, their infielders have negligible to no experience playing the outfield in any professional capacity. Holliday and Mayo have not touched the outfield grass since being drafted by the club. Christian Encarnacion-Strand played two games in the outfield in Triple-A, two games in the Arizona Fall League in the outfield, and three innings in the majors when he was part of the Reds organization. Jordan Westburg got six games in the outfield in Triple-A in 2023.

Elias is trying to create a situation where the players are set up to fail. If they are unsuccessful, their trade value will also tank, hurting any future trade involving the player(s) he wants to move in a deal.

There are too many things that could go wrong in this attempted solution to fixing the infield logjam. Mike Elias needs to stop trying to take the easy way out, put on his big-boy pants, and make deals using these players to upgrade the roster.

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