New season, same story: the Baltimore Orioles are having issues with its starting rotation. This
has been a running theme for this organization since Mike Elias became their Baseball
Operations head. Under Elias, the Orioles have had starters struggle to stay healthy, failed to
develop, or made mistakes in free agency or trades. Ironically, Elias was once a pitcher for Yale
University and should know that a team can’t win without pitching. His failure to put together a
strong starting rotation is why Baltimore’s rebuild is beginning to look like a failure.
Since becoming President of Baseball Operations, Mike Elias has put together a strong minor
league system. It produced players like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser,
Samuel Basallo, and Jordan Westburg. While the Orioles system has churned out strong
offensive contributors, they’ve never been able to develop a starting pitcher. Elias seldom
drafts pitching early and almost exclusively relies on free agents, trades, and the international
market. This philosophy has been a failure. It’s a big reason why they’ve never won a
postseason series under Elias and that their contention window is closing!
The only successful pitching trade Mike Elias has done was when he acquired Corbin Burnes
ahead of the 2024 season. However, unless Burnes got hurt, it was almost impossible for this
move to fail. In his only season with the Orioles, the former Cy Young winner went 15-9 with a
2.92 ERA, 181 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.096. Burnes would be an All-Star for the fifth time in
his career and help Baltimore make it to the postseason.
Currently, Cade Povich is becoming another example of Baltimore’s inability to stabilize their
starting rotation under Mike Elias. Originally acquired from the Twins in 2022, in parts of three
seasons in Baltimore, Povich is 7-18 with a 5.20 ERA, 199 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.457. The
26-year-old is currently on the injured list due to left elbow and triceps inflammation. Given his
command issues, below-average fastball, and current 14.6% strikeout rate, his future as a
starter is in question.
At the trade deadline in 2024, the Orioles dealt Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby for former All-
Star Trevor Rogers. The former Rookie of the Year runner-up allowed 15 runs in 19 innings
before being sent down to Triple-A Norfolk. Last season, he gave the team a tease by going 9-3
with a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts. However, this season, Rogers has crashed back down to earth. He’s
currently 2-5 with a 6.87 ERA, 33 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.658. His spot in the rotation is
coming into question. Making matters worse, Stowers was an All-Star last season.
Last offseason, the Orioles traded away four prospects to the Rays for 26-year-old starter Shane
Baz. Elias would double down on the move by signing him to a five-year, $68 million extension.
So far this season, Baltimore has seemingly fallen into the classic Tampa trap when making a
trade. Baz is currently 1-5 with a 4.87 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.448. Currently, the
Orioles are having buyer’s remorse with that move.
Free agency is where Mike Elias’s failures have badly hurt the Baltimore Orioles. Perhaps the
reason the Orioles are in their current position is the mistakes he made in 2025. Despite trying
to bring back and ultimately lose Corbin Burnes, free agent starters like Max Fried, Blake Snell,
and Nathan Eovaldi were available. The team also had the prospects to acquire Garrett Crochet
from the Chicago White Sox. New owner David Rubenstein was even willing to spend money.
However, Elias didn’t sign any of those marquee names or acquire Crochet. Instead, they signed
41-year-old Charlie Morton, unproven 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano from Japan, and Kyle
Gibson for a second stint. This decision backfired spectacularly.
With Baltimore, Morton went 7-8 with a 5.42 ERA, 101 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.559. At one
point during the season, he had an ERA above ten! The Orioles would somehow offload him at
the trade deadline to an unsuspecting Detroit Tigers team. Kyle Gibson’s second stint in
Baltimore lasted for only four starts before the team mercifully released him. Sugano gave up a
league-high 33 home runs and had an ERA of 4.99 in the second half of the year. To say that all
three of these pitchers were busts is an understatement.
This past offseason, Mike Elias dipped his toes again in free agency by signing veteran Chris
Bassitt and bringing back Zach Eflin. Once again, these signings look like mistakes. Eflin only
made one start before being lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery. Meanwhile, the
return for Chris Bassitt doesn’t look promising. Bassitt is currently 3-3 with a 5.44 ERA, 30
strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.698. Most baseball operations heads who’ve failed this consistently
in free agency are often fired.
The Orioles long rebuild is currently failing because Mike Elias has been unable to put together
a successful starting rotation. Last season, Manager Brandon Hyde was the scapegoat for that
failure. All of Elias’s free agent starting pitcher signings have been busts, acquiring Corbin
Burnes is his only successful trade, and he’s been unable to develop a homegrown starter. To
have success in this league, a team needs a reliable starting rotation, and Baltimore hasn’t had
one under Mike Elias’s regime. It’s time for this team to maybe have a tough conversation
about his pitching strategy because this one isn’t working. Remember, Mike Elias was hired by
the previous owner, John Angelos, not David Rubenstein.
