Mike Elias knew he had his job cut out for him when he came to the Orioles in 2019 from Houston. Baltimore needed a lot of work done both in the front office and on the field because they were a struggling team without any chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
The general manager of Birdland, who was born an hour away from Charm City, was voted the 2023 MLB Executive of the Year just four years later. An honor well-deserved as the Orioles enjoyed their first season with 100 wins in many years.
Mike Elias, who assisted in a significant Orioles comeback, is named executive of the year.
2019 saw Elias start his tenure with a 54-108 record. But the club wasn’t shocked by it. Star players were traded away prior to the trade deadline, which led to the disappointing outcomes. A robust minor league structure started to take shape with the acquisition of several minor league talents.
After COVID cut short the 2020 season, Birdland’s 2021 campaign wasn’t much better. Only the Arizona Diamondbacks, another team that employed Elias’s Baltimore method, had a 52-110 record. Jackson Holiday, a shortstop, was selected by the Orioles as the first overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft.
Baltimore was showing signs of improvement, and 2022 was a major indicator.