Let’s begin today with an existential riddle: If a promotion happens in the forest, and no one makes a sound about it, did it really happen?
The scenario sounds far-fetched, doesn’t it? I mean, absent a non-disclosure agreement or being blackmailed into silence, wouldn’t you tell any and everyone if you got a new position at work with more responsibilities and a resulting bump in pay?
Of course you would. That is, unless you’re Mike Elias, the former general manager of the Orioles.
At some point between last season and this, Elias was given the new title of president of baseball operations, and, we assume, an appropriate raise in salary.
As you may remember, the Orioles reached the postseason in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, marking the first time since the 1996 and 1997 campaigns where the franchise got to the playoffs in consecutive years.
Given the Birds’ track record dating back to the last World Series appearance in 1983, Elias certainly deserved a promotion and the public fanfare that would come with it.
So, why didn’t owner David Rubinstein make a point of letting everyone know what he had done vis a vis Elias? It would have made perfect sense at the time.
Instead, the news, which was first reported by the Athletic last week, is an oddity, given what has happened this year.
To wit, the team has landed in the basement of the American League East, a division the Birds won two years ago, while finishing second last year.
The Orioles’ poor start cost manager Brandon Hyde his job in May, just after, as we just noted, he guided the team to the playoffs the previous two seasons.
There are those who say that Hyde’s firing was justified, given the team’s listless play. Well, if you buy that, why wasn’t Elias, who compiled the roster that played so poorly, placed under the same scrutiny?
That’s a great question. Hopefully, Rubinstein will step to a podium in the not-too-distant future and answer it.
And while he’s at it, Rubinstein can answer a few more questions and, thus, lay out the structure of the front office.
If Elias is the president, will there be a general manager? What will that general manager’s responsibilities be? Will he or she be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the club, including hiring Hyde’s replacement if that’s not interim manager Tony Mansolino?
If the new GM does the micro thing, is Elias now free to do the macro thing, steering the organization to his vision?
And then comes the final two questions: First, is Rubinstein pleased with the organization’s progress since he gave Elias the promotion? And, if the Orioles founder again next year, at what point will he hold Elias accountable?
While the Baltimore Orioles are a privately-owned business, they carry the name of our city and they play on publicly-owned property.
That means David Rubinstein and Mike Elias owe us answers and explanations, not private promotions and obfuscation.
And that’s how I see it for this week. You can reach us via email with your questions and comments at Sports at Large at gmail.com. And follow me on BlueSky, Threads and X at Sports at Large.
Until next week, for all of us here and for producer Lisa Morgan, I’m Milton Kent. Thanks for listening and enjoy the games.
