On Friday, for instance, manager Craig Albernaz said, \u201cThe inconsistency is what\u2019s keeping me up at night.\u201d Most fans can probably agree. There is much to be desired, but Elias said, if the trade deadline were Saturday, the Orioles would clearly be buyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know our record\u2019s backwards, but apparently this is infecting a whole bunch of other teams, too. I can\u2019t explain it,\u201d Elias said regarding the lackluster American League. \u201cThe context around that\u2019s unusual. But we\u2019re right there. So, like I said, we\u2019re going for it. I\u2019ll let you know if that changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elias left the door open for the trade deadline outlook to change. There is plenty of time for the Orioles to create a revival, just as they can fall out of contention. When asked for specific positions of need, should the Orioles be buyers, Elias said he would \u201clike to take more time before diagnosing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
One buzzworthy deal that doesn\u2019t seem likely is a trade of catcher Adley Rutschman. The former top prospect has one more year of team control remaining, and there has been speculation that the Orioles would trade him before he hits the open market.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been the cornerstone, basically, since I\u2019ve been here, so he\u2019s an enormous part of it,\u201d Elias said. \u201cI wish our commitment was greater than it is. We want him here forever. That\u2019s not something that\u2019s crossed the desk or the agenda. Our focus, first of all, we want to get it back, but we want to win with him here.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WSQ5A7YZFBFZ3ISFX7WAAHPVXM.jpg\")
The Orioles seem unlikely to trade catcher Adley Rutschman, who could become a free agent after the 2027 season. (Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Banner)<\/p>\n
Rutschman is nearing a return from a concussion. This season, he\u2019s hitting .254 with a .787 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. When Elias said he wishes Baltimore\u2019s \u201ccommitment was greater,\u201d it\u2019s fair to assume he was referencing Rutschman\u2019s contract situation.<\/p>\n
Last year, when the Orioles got off to a poor start, Elias fired manager Brandon Hyde. This offseason, the Orioles hired Albernaz, a first-time manager, with the hopes of returning to the postseason \u2014 and, once there, making a run.<\/p>\n
So far, the 2026 campaign hasn\u2019t warranted much optimism, apart from the fact that the rest of the American League is also playing uninspired ball.<\/p>\n
Elias said, at this point, a successful season would be to make the postseason. That isn\u2019t unrealistic, given the standings, even if the level of performances appears far below that standard. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t specify exactly what you\u2019re going to do in the playoffs. It\u2019s very hard to do that,\u201d said Elias, and the winless postseason appearances of 2023 and 2024 attest to that. \u201cBut this is a team, if we get in, it means we had a strong second half. And I think, if we can be relatively healthy going in, it\u2019s going to be a pretty strong team in the playoffs with the players we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Orioles could strengthen the team by buying ahead of the trade deadline. But first they must maintain their positioning or improve their standing. And, even with the pressure Elias admittedly feels, he aims to act at the deadline without letting that dictate to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be doing the right thing for the franchise, regardless of everything else,\u201d Elias said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to see what the standings are and what our team is looking like at that time. But we\u2019re certainly making those preparations, and everybody in this building is in the mindset of going for it in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias acknowledged he feels pressure, considering the club has played two years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":730031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[9097,40976,371,363,309796,99],"class_list":["post-730030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baltimore","tag-baltimore-city","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-mlb","tag-opacy","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730030","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=730030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}