Tag: Orioles

It’s not just the Rockies

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Saying that the Rockies have taken up all the oxygen in the room when it comes to 2025’s losing teams is probably pushing things a little far, but it is, at least, fair to say that they’re at the center of that particular attention economy. How could they not be, considering that, heading into Tuesday’s action against the Cubs, they’re sitting at 9-45, the worst-ever modern (i.e. 1901 and beyond) start through 54 games of an MLB season? Given that the 2024 White Sox set the modern loss record with 121 defeats, and Colorado is currently on pace for 135 of them?

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Brandon Hyde suffers for Orioles’ organizational sins

The Orioles didn’t struck when they should have the way they should have, and it’s becoming their defining feature under Mike Elias.

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There’s a common theme to 2025’s worst MLB teams, and it’s that they were pretty clearly going to have rough seasons. And yet, none of them did the things that would keep this from occurring. Three of those four squads have also fired their managers already — the Orioles being the latest thanks to getting rid of Brandon Hyde, following the Rockies and Pirates doing so a little earlier in May — because that’s one way to pretend you’re Doing Something about losses that have been brought about by an organizational-wide philosophy.

You can argue that the Orioles weren’t expected to be quite as bad in 2025 as they’ve been — they’re 15-30, on pace for 108 losses — but this is just arguing a matter of degrees. The O’s made it so that a whole lot of things had to go right for them to compete in 2025 like they did even a year ago when they won 91 games and lost in the Wild Card round, and none of those things have gone right. Instead, they’ve just hit the worst-case scenario in a few instances, but all within the realm of plausibility without the need for hindsight.

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Maybe the new Orioles’ owner will extend their exciting young players

The Orioles promoted another top prospect, which is as good a time as any to wonder if things will be different now.

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Happy Jackson Holliday… day. The son of Matt Holliday is also the top prospect in the Orioles system, and, an even bigger deal, also the minors just in general. The when of the call-up is a bit weird, since the O’s didn’t let him start the season in the majors but he’s still been promoted early enough that he’s eligible for the “don’t manipulate service time” prize at the end of the season, but hey. He’s here now. Neat.

So, it’s a good time to remind everyone of what John Angelos, the previous principal owner of the Orioles, thought about extending their young players so that their competitive window could stay open for longer, even if it cost more than when these guys are all league-minimum or close to it players:

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Orioles reportedly selling, raking in public funds while avoiding paying taxes

The wealthy get all kinds of exceptions, like not having to pay taxes on money they make, and being able to lie to the government to secure even more money.

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Orioles’ ownership are reportedly selling the team for $1.725 billion, ending the reign of control person John Angelos. I’ll pause a moment for fans of the team to applaud. It can’t just be a straightforward deal, though, since this is the Orioles and Angelos we’re talking about. No, this is complicated, with multiple steps in the process, and oh, John Angelos and the rest of the family aren’t actually going anywhere yet. They’re merely selling a significant chunk of the team and handing over the day-to-day control to a new owner, billionaire David Rubenstein (who is buying the team alongside another wealthy individual, Michael Arougheti, and, per the Baltimore Banner, O’s legend Cal Ripken Jr. is part of the group as well).

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The Orioles have the cash and the prospects to improve. So why aren’t they?

The Orioles look like they might “we tried” their way through another offseason.

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The Orioles appear to be close to signing free agent reliever Craig Kimbrel to help out a bullpen that’s missing the injured Felix Bautista, who is out for the 2024 season following Tommy John surgery this year. That’s good, that they’re being proactive. The Orioles’ problem hasn’t been that they make no moves, though: it’s that they aren’t making enough of them. And the non-Kimbrel parts of this offseason so far are a good reminder that this issue remains.

On November 29, Jon Meoli, writing for the Baltimore Banner, discussed that the pitchers who could help the Orioles’ rotation were already coming off the board, and once they were gone, that was going to be that. Options still remain and all, but the Orioles haven’t exactly shown a willingness to go out and get them if it’s going to cost money — recall that Kyle Gibson was thought to be maybe just the start of something last winter, especially when the Orioles went after him so quickly, but that didn’t turn out to be the case at all.

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Mike Elias, ex-Luhnow acolyte, under investigation for O’s pension fraud

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Mike Elias might not have worked directly for efficiency-obsessed McKinsey, but his former boss and former general manager of the Astros, McKinseyite Jeff Luhnow, certainly rubbed off on him. You can see it in the way Elias runs the Orioles, trimming costs wherever possible, and, apparently, when it comes to breaking rules.

Luhnow is casting blame for the Astros’ sign-stealing on the people who used to work for him, people like Elias, and while that might be true, Luhnow was certainly involved, too, regardless of how much he says he was not during lengthy interviews.

Sign-stealing isn’t the topic of the day when it comes to Elias, though, even if Luhnow is hoping to clear his name by vaguely squealing on everyone who was in on the plan with him. No, the Orioles’ general manager potentially found a different rule to break. According to the New York Daily News, Elias is being investigated by MLB for pension fraud:

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