Elias on Orioles’ acquisition of Ward, possible free-agent signings, lineup issues

On Friday night, Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias addressed several subjects during a video conference call.

On the acquisition of Taylor Ward:

“There’s a lot to like with Taylor Ward. He’s actually somebody that we’ve been chasing for at least for a couple years, just because of the profile, the big right-handed power. He hit 36 homers last year, he had 100 RBI, and that’s a middle-of-the-order bat.

“He’s great against left-handed pitching, but we also think he’s good against right-handed pitching and he’s an everyday guy. I mean that in the sense of in the batter’s box, but also he played 156 games in left field two years in a row, so there’s a lot there and I think it brings a lot of stability to our outfield picture. I think it’s going to hopefully make the rest of the lineup better.

“We’ve got a lot of young left-handed hitters and if we have him and [Tyler] O’Neill and [Ryan Mountcastle] and [Coby] Mayo and a lot of these guys staggered in there, it’s gonna make life a little bit easier on the left-handed hitters, too. So we think he’s an impact bat. He really fit us, and there weren’t a lot of big power right-handed guys on the market this year.”

On whether the Orioles will play Ward, O’Neill, Mountcastle and Mayo together

“We’ll figure that out, and it’s a good problem to have. And as we lived through last year, you have to worry about depth, too. This is something that will sort itself out. I think the main thing is we don’t want to discard a good hitter if we don’t have to, and we want to keep our talent, and these guys are all really promising bats.”

On whether he’s still searching for another impact bat

“You know, we very well might. And that’s something that we’re working on. I can’t guarantee that that’s going to happen. But we are definitely still pursuing upgrades to the lineup. But I think that Taylor’s presence, as I was saying earlier, really solidifies the outfield picture in a way that gives us more flexibility with hunting that next impact bat and where that person plays.”

On whether the Orioles need another player who can play center field

“Well, potentially, yeah. We’ll be hunting for help there as we go along. We obviously love [Colton] Cowser. I think that’s going to be a big bounce back. I thought he looked good defensively and he will be good defensively.

“I think Leody Taveras is a nice ad for us and gives us some flexibility and depth in that spot and some competition in that spot as well. But it’s an area that we can continue to look for more and you need more than two center fielders in your org. I think Enrique Bradfield is going to move his way closer, but we have room at the end for more center field help if we can find it.”

On the starting pitching market

“I’ve been pretty clear and direct, we’re trying to find — whether it’s top or front or top-half of the rotation, all those buckets. We’re trying and there are guys out there and we are in pursuit of every one of them. I can’t forecast how fast it’s going to move.

“Nothing is going down tonight that I can tell, but I also don’t want to say something like that and be wrong. But everybody is working on it. The work is happening. The conversations are happening with the agents and the front offices, but also the meetings. We’re doing meetings with players and this is all steaming along in the background right now.”

On whether the Orioles are looking at depth starters:

“We’ll have to source all types of pitching. You have to go into spring training these days with at least eight options, and probably more than that. So we’ll be working all winter.”

On whether Enrique Bradfield Jr. can play for the Orioles in 2026:

“That would be terrific to see. We’re going to bring him to camp and we’ll kind of take it from there. He’s certainly, just looking at his Baseball-Reference page, so to speak, he hasn’t exhausted the minor leagues. So, we’ll see where it goes but he’s going to be in camp. It’s going to be a real important camp for him and look forward to seeing him there.”

On whether the Orioles are looking for a closer:

“We’re trying to make an external addition there, so working on that right now. I can’t say things with 100% certainty, but we’re making every effort to make external additions to the bullpen and in particular an experienced ninth-inning guy if we can.”

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