Maybe I’m overreacting, but the Baltimore Orioles are not good right now. Even as a believer in Oriole Magic, it’s hard to spin this season’s heaping helping of mediocrity into something “great.” To be fair, it’s a bit delusional to think they’d be worldbeaters with a rookie manager and not many changes to their roster–or front office. However, they’re 39-48 as of this writing.

The 2019 Nationals, they are not. Hell, they’re not even the 2026 Nationals, Cade Cavalli calling Willson Contreras “boy” notwithstanding.

Per MLB.com, the O’s are on pace to win less games than they did during 2025. Keep in mind that 2025 was the year where everything fell apart, though it was a continuation of the final months of the 2024 season. Manager Brandon Hyde was fired and replaced by Tony Mansolino. Mansolino went 60-59 over his tenure and ended up with the Atlanta Braves. Charlie Morton was…a thing. As was the overall lack of Yennier Cano posing. No one hit over 17 homeruns. And, among other things, Mike Elias played it as if he was smarter than he actually was.

Months later, and things have gotten worse.

The manager, depending on how you interpret Craig Albernaz’s words, has potentially started throwing his players under the bus. Said manager also has a lot of “give up and die” when he says fans “have every right to boo” but continues business as usual. There’s a lineup that’s often underperformed. Yes, that includes Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman at one point or another. That’s before we even get into the (starting) pitching staff.

The pitching staff doesn’t have Charlie Morton, but they’re more or less the same group from 2025–just with new names. Shane Baz isn’t 2025 (or 2026) Grayson Rodriguez and has been available. But when he pitches, he’s doing a great 2025 Cade Povich impersonation. Meanwhile, 2026 Cade Povich has been bit by the injury bug. Zach Elfin, who had his 2025 end due to injury, won’t pitch until sometime in 2027 due to having Tommy John Surgery after his first 2026 start. Trevor Rogers put whatever lightning he found in 2025 back into the bottle. The bullpen hasn’t been disgustingly bad, but they’re currently a middle-of-the-road unit as a whole. The trades haven’t really worked, the signings haven’t really worked, the promotions haven’t really worked.

When now-Rockie Tomoyuki Sugano’s having a season as good as–or better than–everyone in your starting rotation, in the words of Bill Duke:

Now, I’m not a professional baseball player. Hell, the last time I played the sport competitively was in my pre-high school days. I know that being a baseball player is tough, so I’m not trying to tell anyone how to do their job. Jeremiah Jackson, for example, probably wouldn’t walk into my office and tell me how to [do what SOTB does for a living]. At least I’d hope he wouldn’t. I’m also not Orioles owner David Rubenstein. The closest thing I’ve come to running an MLB team is in video games, so I’m armchair owner-ing like the rest of you.

However, something’s got to give. I hate to point fingers, especially when I don’t have enough fingers to point everywhere I need to. I kid, kid. Jokes aside, let’s be real with ourselves.

It may be time to let Mike Elias go. Craig Albernaz deserves the flak he’s received and may also not be long for this Orioles world. But, do you know who led the efforts that brought in Albernaz? Michael Elias. We could firesale the hell out of this 2026 Orioles team’s players, but that also wouldn’t do what needs to be done. It’s, from this fan’s perspective, a problem with the front office first and foremost. That’s especially since the front office plays a critical part in who leads the team on the field, both players and coaches. Admittedly, Elias did build up a crappy 100-loss team into something resembling a somewhat-competitive team. However, for every positive, there’s a caveat attached.

• Mike Elias has made trades. That said, a lot of them haven’t worked out. For every one-year-of-Corbin-Burnes, there’s a Jack Flaherty trade. Then again, only the Dodgers have truly benefited from a Jack Flaherty trade, as he was a part of their 2024 championship run.
• Mike Elias has drafted well, given the pools of players available. But, for every Gunnar Henderson, the team also gets an Anthony Servideo (which also leans into the narrative that Elias and his team hasn’t drafted well, pitching-wise).
• Elias has made some free agent swings, though most have been of the Tyler O’Neill/Charlie Morton/Craig Kimbrel variety. For every Kyle Gibson in 2023-caliber signing, there’s been a Kyle Gibson in 2025-caliber signing. That said, passing on re-signing Corbin Burnes in the 2024 offseason was, sadly, a smart idea.
• Elias did extend Samuel Basallo and the aforementioned Shane Baz, but likely missed out on retaining Adley/Gunnar/etc.
• The Orioles have made the playoffs during Elias’ tenure (2023 and 2024) after missing out every year since 2016’s Ubaldo-over-Britton Wild Card series. They would’ve made it in 2022 as well, had they won three more games (and the Rays lost three more). But they have zero postseason wins to show for that, even after the 2023 101-win season.

Has Elias been “utter crap?” “Buns?” “Str8 azz?” No, he hasn’t. Baseball is tough and just about anyone can have an up-and-down go at the whole shebang. However, results are paramount in any job–baseball or otherwise. It’s less about “what did you do three-to-five years ago” and more about “what have you done for me lately” in many arenas. Granted, my job isn’t President of Baseball Operations and General Manager for a multibillion-dollar sports franchise. However, if I coasted on past accomplishments and gave an air of “I know better than everyone else,” I’d probably be fired.

Elias’s rope should be equally as short, given how things’ve gone over the last few years.

Letting Elias go in the middle of the season may not be the best option, though. He’s been middling in some ways, but he’s not Perry Minasian. Even if there’s a lockout possibly on the horizon, Elias has seemingly served his purpose. He’s been solid in his construction of the team. However, he has not been as great when it comes to doing things to help sustain the (fleeting?) success the team’s seen in the early 2020s. Simply put, I think the Oriole Magic in Mike Elias’s hat has worn out. Maybe he’ll do better elsewhere, because he’s not completely terrible at his job. Even with that in mind, it seems like it’s time for a mutual separation.

With the 2026 season seemingly becoming another lame duck go, let’s see where things go between here and September and then hope the O’s wish Elias the best in his future endeavors–and he finds a job somewhere else. After all, the job market is tough–potentially even for general managers who haven’t been able to build on past triumphs.