Looking back on Orioles’ visit to Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS—Mike Elias and Jared Banner arrived at the media availability at the General Managers Meetings on Tuesday together. They quickly separated and answered questions a few feet away from each other.

Elias, the Orioles’ president of baseball operations, will celebrate his eighth anniversary with the team next week. Banner is in his first month as general manager.

In this most unusual of all offseasons, it’s impossible to draw any conclusions about the Orioles, but here are some observations about the meetings:

There was more attention on the GM meetings this year

That’s pretty obvious because there aren’t going to be any Winter Meetings. Five years ago, Major League Baseball sent out credential and hotel request forms for the December meetings and had to cancel them once the lockout began.

This year, everyone knows the lockout will begin on December 1^st at 11:59 p.m., and MLB never sent out the credential request forms.

There was a larger than expected turnout for the GM availabilities since they’re not going to be able to add any information about player moves once the lockout begins with the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Everyone was talking about labor

Generally, super agent Scott Boras spends his time during his media scrum with reporters talking up the accomplishments and attractiveness of his clients, adding entertaining puns.

There weren’t as many puns this year since Boras was heavily questioned about labor strife, and he reiterated how “emboldened” the players are.

Elias said the Orioles wouldn’t try to guess what the new labor agreement would contain, and that’s wise. The Orioles had the 16^th-highest payroll in baseball in 2026 and might not be as affected as teams with higher, or lower, payrolls.

What the next few weeks look like

The guess here is that this will resemble the trade deadline. The Orioles will be busy and perhaps there’ll be a flurry of activity just ahead of the deadline.

Five years ago, the Orioles had an agreement with starting pitcher Jordan Lyles shortly before business shut down but weren’t able to complete it until after the lockout ended in March because there wasn’t time for him to take his physical.

News from Elias

There wasn’t any big news. Jordan Westburg’s Tommy John recovery is going well. So is Jackson Holliday’s recovery from wrist surgery.

The coaching staff will remain intact for 2027 unless a team attracts an Orioles coach with a promotion. With only three managerial openings, there hasn’t been as much movement on the coaching front as in past offseasons.

Nate George, who was the organization’s minor league player of the year in 2025, will be ready for spring training next year. George’s season ended after 20 games with High-A Frederick because of an undisclosed illness or “malady,” in Elias’ word.

Mike Shildt, whose work with the higher level minor leaguers went well by all accounts, is returning with the new title of director of on-field education.

Position changes

Elias said that some infielders had been told to be ready for outfield work.

Blaze Alexander started 14 games in the outfield last season. Christian Encarnacion-Strand played three innings in right field for Cincinnati in 2023 and four games in the minor leagues. Coby Mayo has never played there.

The Orioles have plenty of infielders, and if Westburg is healthy whenever spring training begins, then Alexander, Encarnacion-Strand and Mayo, all right-handed hitters, could be part of the solution in the outfield.

That won’t stop the Orioles from pursuing outfielders in trades or through free agency.

Bullpen

The Orioles seem to have a solid bullpen, and without a true closer for the last two months of the season, performed admirably.

Ryan Helsley, who was limited to 17 games and didn’t pitch in the second half of the season, will be back, and so will Félix Bautista, who was a dominant closer before his Tommy John surgery in 2023. Bautista showed signs of that dominance in 2025 before he needed another surgery, this time for rotator cuff and labrum repair. He pitched only twice in September.

“We love the experience and the firepower that they both bring,” Elias said. “Right now, in terms of November, we’ve got to be cognizant of the fact that Ryan didn’t finish healthy, and Félix, he’s healthy, but he’s going into his first full season after a pretty major shoulder surgery.

“So we’ve got to have some guarded planning around both of those guys, but I expect that they both will be in the mix for back-end action, and if Ryan’s healthy, and he probably will be, I think he has recency on his side in terms of the closer role.

“This is something that when we get close to spring training, we’ll sit down and talk to the players and talk to Alby about how we want to go through all that. They’re definitely part of the back-end bullpen picture right now. With them both having injured 2026’s, I don’t know that’s entirely what we can rely on. We’ve got to see what moves we make over the winter.”

Of the returning pitchers who are on the 40-man roster, Bautista, Helsley, Yennier Cano, Rico Garcia, Alex Hoppe, Anthony Nunez and Cam Sanders are all right-handers. Josh Walker and Grant Wolfram are left-handers.

Elias is open to adding left-handed depth.

“That’s the side of the bullpen where I think we have the most room for improvement,” he said.

Note: Pete Alonso finished fifth in the American League Most Valuable Player voting. He was naned on 28 of 30 ballots.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com