The Orioles succeeded in trading for a starting pitcher without losing anyone from the major league roster or on the threshold of joining it.<\/p>\n
Does that desire change in future deals?<\/p>\n
President of baseball operations\/general manager Mike Elias spoke Saturday in a video call about \u201csteering more toward guys that were recently drafted or a draft pick itself.\u201d He veered in a different direction than other executives who also wanted Rays starter Shane Baz.<\/p>\n
The odds of winning remain higher by refusing to strip away talent that could be needed in 2026. Makes sense when you put it that way. Don\u2019t potentially weaken one area to strengthen another. But Elias could reach the point where he dips into the excess, if that\u2019s how he views it.<\/p>\n
This roster has four first basemen if you include catcher Samuel Basallo\u2019s second position. Pete Alonso has played in 162 games in each of the past two years and never fewer than 152 in six full seasons. He\u2019s a $155 million roadblock.<\/p>\n
Having too many bats isn\u2019t going to keep executives awake nights, except for those moments when they\u2019re trying to figure out how to carry them on Opening Day.<\/p>\n
Elias could try it with Ryan Mountcastle and Coby Mayo on the bench and rotating into the designated hitter spot. The downside is paying Mountcastle around $8 million to do it, and turning Mayo, a top prospect not too long ago, into a part-timer.<\/p>\n
Of course, Elias could trade one or both, maybe taking on a similar contract in exchange for Mountcastle. Maybe dangling Mayo for pitching. But Elias offered another idea during his video call.<\/p>\n
Hold the Mayo trade speculation.<\/p>\n
Try moving him to other positions.<\/p>\n
The Orioles seemed to be committed to keeping Mayo at first after drafting him to play third and working to improve his throwing accuracy. They\u2019ve shot down suggestions that he could begin taking fly balls in right field, which Mayo thought could happen last spring.<\/p>\n
Running back Elias\u2019 quote over the weekend, he said, \u201cThere is still a lot of playing time available for him on a team that has Pete Alonso now. We have first base reps, we have designated hitter reps, and the exploration of other positions – whether it\u2019s third or something in the corner outfield – has been something we\u2019ve always talked about with him. So the path remains open for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Orioles made a commitment to play Mayo only at first base over the summer, arranging early drills with special advisor John Mabry before games. The improvements were noticeable. And they wanted Jordan Westburg at third for as long as he stayed healthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see the third base thing happening, but I don\u2019t make all the decisions,\u201d interim manager Tony Mansolino said in August. \u201cFor me right now, he\u2019s playing a good first base. I think he tried really hard to play third base and it just didn\u2019t work out. We also have this guy at third base that\u2019s pretty darn good.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he going to unseat Jordan Westburg? If he\u2019s not, why are we playing him at third base. He\u2019s got to be able to play first base. That\u2019s where the at-bats are going to come from. So, for Coby, get very good at first base and then at that point, you\u2019ve got to swing the bat. Because there are guys coming. Basallo\u2019s coming and he plays a really good first base.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Mayo is in camp, we\u2019ll have to watch whether he actually begins taking ground balls again at third or fly balls in right. It would be a shift in organizational thinking.<\/p>\n
Mayo hit .301\/.393\/.548 with three doubles and five home runs in 24 September games. The power is ridiculous. It\u2019s only going to flicker if he has to sit for stretches.<\/p>\n
Finding regular playing time is much harder now, but we\u2019ll find out whether the same holds true for relinquishing him. And if the Orioles really do try to carry Mayo and Mountcastle or create room for another position player with a different skill set, whether to back up in center field, serve in a super-utility role or both.<\/p>\n
Speaking of center field, does the position belong to Colton Cowser if Alonso was the big signing on the non-pitching side?<\/p>\n
Leody Taveras can back up. Elias is checking on role players.<\/p>\n
Check back later to gain a better understanding of the team\u2019s plans heading into spring training. The picture remains blurry.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orioles succeeded in trading for a starting pitcher without losing anyone from the major league roster or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,48262,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-365377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-orioles","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}