Orioles news: Baltimore stays quiet despite big trades, Mike Elias catches heat

The 2024-2025 MLB offseason is getting hot and heavy. We've already gotten a handful of big name signings in free agency and now we have our second massive trade, with former Houston Astros' star outfielder Kyle Tucker heading to Chicago's North side.

The Cubs swung what looks like an exceptional deal to acquire Tucker, sending the one-trick pony in Isaac Paredes, along with 2024 first round draft pick Cam Smith and swingman Hayden Wesneski to Houston in return. Tucker spent significant time on the IL this past summer but put up a monster .289/.408/.585 line with 4.2 fWAR in just 78 games.

Paredes profiles well in Houston. He's an extreme pull hitter and the Astros have a short left field fence that should allow Paredes' skill-set to play up in their home park. The Cubs selected Smith, a third baseman from Florida State, with the 14th overall pick in this past summer's MLB Draft. He worked his way up to Double-A in his first professional season and while he's not an elite prospect, he could be a solid contributor. Wesneski looks better as a reliever than he does as a starter but he's still just 27 and has four years of control left, so it's not a bad guy to get in a vacuum.

All told, this move likely puts an end to the formidable Astros we've come to know. Tucker was their second best hitter, behind the exceptional Yordan Alvarez. With Tucker gone and Jose Altuve heading into his age-35 season, the Houston offense suddenly looks a lot less formidable.

Orioles remain quiet despite a busy MLB offseason

It's interesting to note the Astros' potential decline because the Orioles would ideally be poised to steal the Astros' spot as one of the AL's top teams. However, their silence this winter is deafening. Even without Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, the O's still have a strong roster. But as the Orioles have remained quiet, the Yankees and Red Sox have come out firing in the AL East and will make it extremely difficult for the Orioles to get back to the top of the division in 2025.

Is the Orioles' reluctance to add a top free agent part of the design from Mike Elias? Ben Palmer of Pitcher's List seems to think so. Palmer claims to have heard from a source inside the organization that "Elias doesn’t want ownership to spend large amounts of money on free agents because it would make Elias more accountable and place higher expectations on him". Additionally, Palmer seems to think Elias is "in over his head" when it comes to roster building.

In my opinion, it's a bit of a stretch to think that Elias is incapable of doing the job. He and Sig Mejdal have done an outstanding job drafting and acquiring amateur talent and have helped build an Orioles team that's won a combined 192 games over the last two years. It's easy to be critical of the Birds for not splurging on a top free agent this winter but to claim that the front office is incompetent is disingenuous and lazy analysis.

We all want the same thing here. We want the Orioles to be in the mix for top free agents and high profile trade targets, and we want them to win baseball games, especially the ones in October. But the team is in a good spot right now because of the work Elias has put in. It's incredibly rash and short-sighted to think the O's approach to this offseason warrants running the current front office out of town.