Will Orioles’ Elias sign a big-time free agent before an extension for Henderson? | MAILBAG

Question: Will Mike Elias sign a multi-year free agent before he extends Gunnar Henderson? From: @beachwahoo

Answer: Doug, I think Mike Elias will sign a multi-year free agent this month, perhaps two. I know the Orioles would like to extend Gunnar Henderson, but I don’t think that’s coming in the near future.

Question: What does Major League Coach mean for Buck Britton? It seems like a vague title. What did José Hernández do? From: @jonsolomon35.blsky.com

Answer: Jon, congratulations! You’re the first Bluesky reader to pose a question, and for those wondering, you can follow me now on both X and Bluesky.

Major League Coach is a vague title, and I anticipate that Britton will help Tony Mansolino with the infielders and Anthony Sanders with the outfielders as well as perhaps serving as an extra batting coach since I see that Sherman Johnson remains upper-level batting coach and assistant batting coach. Hernández did all those things, and he also served as a fill-in first base coach when needed.

I’ll try to get some clarification om Britton’s duties when we talk to Brandon Hyde at next week’s Winter Meetings in Dallas.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.